


The Worth of Wild Things

by Kicollette



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Adventure, Battle of Five Armies, Friendship/Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-22
Updated: 2015-11-11
Packaged: 2018-04-27 15:47:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 83
Words: 76,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5054596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kicollette/pseuds/Kicollette
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Kili becomes separated from the Company after their escape from Mirkwood, he must rely on a new friend to help him find his way to Erabor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Forge

Disclaimer: The Hobbit, all characters, places, and related terms are the sole property of J.R.R. Tolkien's estate, and Warner Brothers, New Line Cinema, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and WingNut Films.

Bilbo had not entirely given up on his second, third, or even eighth plan of aiding the Dwarves in their escape from Mirkwood's Keep. But time was running out, and if this last trip to the forge was fruitless, then his daring first plan would have to suffice.

Bilbo had been busy, these past few weeks, plotting every potential avenue of escape. But he had also taken advantage of his invisible state to enjoy the charms of everyday life among the Elves. He had visited classrooms of giggling children, smelled fresh lembas bread baking in ovens, and listened to a harpist compose what would no doubt be her masterpiece.

He had found the forges of Mirkwood to have a warm and cheerful atmosphere, reminiscent of the Shire and the industrious Hobbits he knew so well. The forge was also his best hope for finding the supplies needed for his plans.

He arrived at his targeted West forge early in the morning, when few were there. One pleasant young face was at her usual workstation. Bilbo had become quite fond of the inquisitive, black-haired apprentice.

Her foot tapped the bellows.

"Too fast, Rhavaniel," her cousin, Dûrion, chided her, "What song is in your head?"

"Um, Beyond the Sea." she replied, polishing one of the assortment of copper-dipped acorns covering her bench.

"They were sailing on a warm breeze in that song, not rowing for their lives. Mind your pace." Dûrion turned his attention back to the forge, and the iron rod that had cooled enough to pull from the fire and hammer.

Her Uncle Lithaldoren looked over her shoulder. "Very good. And you've hammered out all of the gold leaf?"

"Aye, Uncle. They are awaiting Alyan at his bench." Rhavaniel replied.

"And the powders you were to grind for the glassblowers?"

"Already delivered to Master Manwëron. Pure copper, chroma, and iron dust." She pointed to the neatly checked off list of tasks on the wall above her bench. "I thought I could help examine the Dwarf weapons next, please?"

"You mean from the prisoners?" Dûrion snorted, "They are still locked up in the Keep with the Dwarves."

"But I have never seen Dwarves, or their ironwork." she pleaded, "I heard they even had some Elf swords with them."

"All under lock and key, in case King Thranduil decides to send them away quickly." Lithaldoren explained, "I can show you a piece of Dwarf ironwork if you want. It's probably still out in the old forge."

Rhavaniel was not satisfied, "One of them had a bow. I caught a glimpse of it."

Dûrion hammered at his iron, "You will not learn anything from a Dwarf bow."

"They are fine enough craftsmen, but not for precise weaponry." Lithaldoren conceded, "They are best at making what they use well - broadsword, battle ax and war hammer."

Dûrion nodded, "Aye, their fistmele is off. A Dwarf's longest bow is too short for an Elf. And too hard on the pull. They have poor eyesight, and are built for close-quarter fighting, so there is little care for distance shooting."

"Elves are master of the bow for our grace and speed of body, as much as our skill in the crafting of the weapon. Do not waste your time trying to learn archery from Dwarves."

"Learning from the mistakes of others is not without value." Dûrion pointed out, "Spend time with Dwarves and you will appreciate the value of fine table manners."

"... and soap." Her elders enjoyed a hearty laugh.

"Speaking of soap," Dûrion gently scolded, "you should go back to Melima's and wash up. Change out of your work clothes and head to your lessons early for once. You should have started High Elvish a year ago, and the literature instructor says there is no use moving you up for another year yet."

Lithaldoren put a hand on Rhavaniel's slumped shoulder, "I understand you felt the call to the forge early, and you will be a great talent in time. But while you are young, you must avail yourself of all opportunities to learn."

"Yes, Uncle," Rhavaniel replied, hanging her leather apron on a hook on the way out.

"I am at Nechaenion's home, not Melima's, this quarter-moon," she called back, but they did not hear her over their hammering.

Bilbo sighed at her leaving. He had hoped Rhavaniel's elders would have relented to her daily requests to visit the Keep and in doing so, show him where they kept the keys. Bilbo knew that the West forge blacksmiths had copies of all the keys to Thranduil's castle and Keep, but he had been unable to find them. He would have no choice but to obtain the keys from the Elf Guards on duty.


	2. The Keep

Rhavaniel walked across Mirkwood commons, deep in thought. She was a young Elf, gracefully flitting between the worlds of adult and child. 

Her black hair was thick and curly, altogether unlike typical sleek and straight Elf hair. Abandoning hope of taming it, Rhavaniel learned to twist and braid her hair, and pin it with sticks of bronze-dipped ferns collected on her walks through the woods. She favored the ones that were small and unfurled, curled tight like a fiddlehead. This kept her hair out her way for most activity, for she was an active girl.

She was dark complexioned, darker even than most Silvan elves. Her family had always remarked that she resembled a little brown egg in a nest when she was a baby.

Her eyes were a lush forest green, a color once commonly seen when Mirkwood was still called Eryn Galen, before the Great Darkening. 

Her eyes lifted from the ground at the sound of a group of younger children, scampering off toward the Keep. They must have dared themselves to take a look at the Dwarves, for they were heading in the wrong direction for classes.

The Dwarves had been prisoners for weeks now, and she had still seen no more than a glimpse of them. She should really be heading to class, but would there be Dwarves in class? Certainly not, and what could be more educational than studying a real, live Dwarf, albeit in an unnatural habitat? Why should she just read about them in books when there were a dozen plus one so close? This was an opportunity for education, as her Uncle so graciously encouraged her this morning.

She sprinted after the other children.

__________________________________________

The younger children must have been coming to see the Dwarves since the first day of captivity, for they were all business. No giggles would give away their presence. They each took a peek through the grate with military precision, rolling past one at a time.  
Theirs was a memory game to determine who could spot the most Dwarves, or add the most details to the collected list of characteristics in a single pass. They had a little book stashed behind a rock at the other side of the grate for taking notes. Rhavaniel could not completely make out their whispers, but it seemed that one of them had spotted "Ax Head". This was cause for great excitement, and that boy was now apparently "in the lead".

They grinned at Rhavaniel from the far side of the grate, and beckoned her to take a look. She should really be too old for this nonsense, but it looked like fun.

Rhavaniel ran low to the ground and dropped flat at the side of the grate, as she had seen the children do. This kept them close to the grate for the best view, and below the line of sight of any Guards, both inside and outside the prison. If they dawdled, they would surely be caught by a Guard and ordered home to report their transgressions to their parents.

She peeked inside and rolled. Goodness! She was so unused to beards, she was amazed that the children could see anything beyond them. She saw a long white beard...a silver beard, tightly braided (she sympathized, his beard must behave like her hair) ... a yellow beard with a braided mustache ... and not much beard at all, though it was hard to say because that Dwarf's dark brown head was tucked low on his chest. But he had a two-finger glove on his right hand. She had found her archer!  
Rhavaniel hopped up and over to consult the book. Ugh, they had sketched Ax Head. Their childish descriptions were quite literal, weren't they? She looked through the book and pointed out the ones she had seen: Eldest (how obvious), Silver Coils for her braided Dwarf (now that was quite whimsical), and Dwarf's Gold, they called the fair-haired one.

"Where is the archer?" she whispered. They shrugged, and she flipped through the book again. Thirteen Dwarves and thirteen faces, so he must be in the book. By process of elimination she found him, 'Shadow'. It must be him, just dark hair and dark eyes. She scribbled on his page 'ARCHER, right-handed'.

Rhavaniel had seen something else in her pass along the grate - a smaller cell across the hall from the Dwarfs. Fierce axes, maces, and heavy swords were visible beyond that iron door. It must be where the Dwarf weapons were locked up.  
She was familiar with parts of the Keep. The blacksmiths routinely inspected the bars and locks, and she had been allowed to follow one of her brothers on such rounds recently - when no prisoners were there, of course. He showed her locks, and even allowed her to take one apart and rebuild it, under his supervision. She could get through the lock she just saw easily enough - it was the simplest kind. The difficult locks were reserved for the prisoners' cells.

When the young children answered the final horn for classes, Rhavaniel hung back. She retrieved the book from under the rock and headed for a service chute. 

The chute had a double door, resembling the door to a root cellar, except for the iron bars beneath. Fresh straw was sent in from above ground to below, for the cell floors. That was a simple lock, and she picked it with some of the smaller wax carving tools she kept in her jacket. She took the lock with her - no point in risking getting locked in. She knew she could use the lock as an excuse if caught - she could always say she was bringing it back, repaired from the forge, and had gotten lost.

Carefully closing the chute door behind her, she slid down into the straw heap below. She landed softly and burrowed into the straw, holding her breath until sure that no one saw or heard her. She planned to wait in the straw until she had determined the pattern of the Guards on their rounds, when she felt something brush against her feet. She jumped up with a start. "Rats!" she thought to herself. The straw pile was suddenly far less appealing.

She took a look around, and marveled at her luck. There were no Guards at her end of the Keep, and the hallway was wide open. She could hear the Guards at their main post, around the corner of the Dwarves' cells, but she could only see their shadows, and knew they would not see hers. She heard a commotion at the North end of the Keep, and realized they must be getting a delivery of food or ale. Thirteen Dwarves had kept the sutler and the Guards busy managing supplies every day.

She tiptoed down the hall to the locker of seized weapons. She was getting faster at this lock picking business, and with a quick click-click she was in. She thought she heard a sigh behind her, but dismissed it as drafts in the old dungeon and was not frightened. 

In truth, it was Bilbo Baggins. He had followed her during her walk to the Keep, and excitedly slid down the chute after her, formulating yet another escape plan. But now he sighed in frustration that Rhavaniel was so quick and clever. She had not provided him with a proper tutorial on lock-picking. A burglar should know such things.

Rhavaniel ducked to the back of the locker and pulled out the sketchbook. Oh, how she would have loved to take these weapons all back to the forge for proper study. Dûrion was right when he said these were not fit weapons for Elves - the maces were hard to lift and she suspected the largest battle axe weighed more than she did. But she admired the crisp interlocking designs that decorated them. She traced them with her finger and realized that they were one continuous line. 

"Infinity." she whispered. She opened the sketchbook and noted the patterns and measures in as much detail as she could in this limited time and light.

There were three spiked iron balls on long chains, joined by a link and a leather strap. 

"What a good throwing weapon this must be. It must take some skill to hit its mark." She certainly admired their inventiveness. She would make something like this herself right away - a lighter version of course, fit for Elves.

She heard a noise, and ducked behind the pile of blankets kept for prisoners, while two Elf Guards passed. While on the floor, she saw it - a Dwarf bow of dark wood and smooth finish. It was thicker than she thought it would be, as were the arrows in the simple leather quiver beside it. When she tried to pull it back, she could barely budge the string. A sketch was not going to be enough to for her to understand this weapon.

When the Guards doubled back to complete their rounds, the locker was again shut up tight and dark.

The older Guard spoke up, "See here that you get that straw swept up or the Lieutenant will be on us at the end of the shift."

_______________________________

Rhavaniel climbed back up the service chute with the Dwarf bow and arrows, and Bilbo close behind. She secured the lock on the grate. This was another disappointment for Bilbo. He had hoped that in her youthful folly, the girl would have forgotten and left one exit unsecured.

Bilbo watched Rhavaniel replace the book behind the rocks, and run for class.

Bilbo realized something would have to be done about those children and their game. It would not do to have these extra sets of eyes on the Dwarves at odd hours.

He had an idea. Bilbo retrieved the sketch book and turned to the next blank page. He began to draw himself, in what he thought was a flattering light, with broad smile and a pipe in his mouth. His drawing skills were not up to the task, however. His twinkling eyes came out close-set and menacing. His smiling mouth appeared twisted, and his comfortable pipe now resembled a small leg with a foot still attached. 

"Rather frightening," he thought, "but that may be more effective." 

Below his self-portrait, he wrote in the childish Elvish he had learned 'ghost'. That should keep the Elf children from the Keep.


	3. The Ravine

The journey from Lake-Town started well enough, until the storm. The skies turned dark and poured buckets of water like a brigade putting out a fire. The fire was the Dwarves excitement to be back upon their journey, for the sudden rain had turned the path to sodden muck. Everyone dismounted and walked to spare the ponies, not that it was safe to ride. Mud clung to the ponies' hooves and the Dwarves' boots, weighting every step. The flattest path was still slippery, with Dwarf and pony alike loosing footing.  
They passed by a fresh and ragged crack in the land. It was a ravine created by a flash flood, strong enough to have uprooted trees along its high banks.

The Company steered as far clear of the ravine as they could, for they could tell the ground was soft. But Kili's pony lost his footing and slid, bringing the full weight of its hindquarters into Kili and tossing him into the ravine.

Kili landed at the bottom with a loud crack the other Dwarves heard from above. His brethren rushed to the bank, only to begin slipping in themselves and needing rescue.

Kili caught his breathe and called up, "It was the bow that the people of Lake-Town lent me, not my back, that broke."

They sighed in relief and urged him to climb up. The sides of the ravine were slick and wet, with many roots exposed.

"There's good climbing here!" Kili called up, but the ground gave way under him. Pulling on the roots further weakened the walls, and more mud slid down.

"I can't climb it." Kili called up.

"Wait there. We will toss a rope." Fili instructed.

The Dwarves stood a safe distance back from the ledge and tossed the rope down to Kili. In a flash he had secured himself and called out a "heave-ho" but the rope sunk into the ground and mud again threatened to bury him at the bottom of the ravine.

The Dwarves next tossed the rope over a branch of an oak that was still standing, so that it dangled near the center of the ravine. They thought they could pull Kili straight up and he could swing over to the bank. But the ground under the oak had weakened, and even the weight of Kili was too much. The oak began to sag and sink and threaten to drop, taking Kili with it.

Finally, Thorin bade them halt, "Kili, you shall have to walk until you find better ground. We will follow as close as we can. If for any reason we lose sight of each other, head for the ridge we planned to camp at tonight. Agreed?"

"Yes, Uncle." Kili called up.

"I will slide down and walk with him." offered Fili.

"No," Thorin replied, "You need to mind Kili's pony as well as your own now. If there is trouble from Orc or Elf, it will be up here. Stay where you are needed most." and in a quiet tone for Fili's ears only, "That is how a leader makes choices - with his head. Kili will be fine."

"Should we toss down supplies?" asked Bombur.

"No, he will have a rough enough road, and he won't be down there long. Do you have knife, sword, and water?" Thorin called down.

"Yes." Kili assured them.

"Then get moving!" Thorin snapped, "Same for the rest of you."

_______________________________________

Kili's slow pace through mud and branches was matched by the muddy trek of the others on higher ground. They sang as they walked, letting Kili know that they were close by, and he answered in kind.

The morning continued in this slow and steady fashion. Kili had hoped he would find a way up by now, but that would not be his luck today. He noticed that the singing was getting fainter and thought that they must be tiring. It grew fainter still, and Kili could no longer tell if the noise was ahead or behind. He decided he should be ahead, as it would be dangerous for them to double back on his account. He had cost them enough time falling down in the first place. He quickened the painful pace.

His feet sunk so deep at times, the mud went over the tops of his boots. He used his sword to cut through branches. He stopped and heard no sound of singing at all. He despaired that his pace was so slow.

He lifted his water skin to quench his thirst and realized too late that it had been pierced in his fall and was empty. He stooped to drink from a puddle in the ravine, and continued to walk.

He encountered a great pile of broken tree trunks and rock, testament to the strength of the flood. He thought it might finally be something high enough to allow him to crawl out of this damp and endless pit. He began to climb the largest trunk, hacking at branches. It was at half-height through this thicket of waste that he realized the branches in front of him were the mud-covered antlers of a mighty stag, caught up with his herd, battered and drowned. The rotten carcasses stretched up the length of the tree.

Kili shouted, "Is anyone there? Can you hear me?" 

It was so quiet, it seemed that even the birds had deserted him.

He continued to climb the pile of debris, knowing the tallest portion was still not tall enough to reach the edge of the ravine, but hoping that he would be close enough to be heard. He began to climb over the rotten animals, the stench making him sick. Maggots infested the site, and it chilled him as if a grave had been turned inside out. He called out again when he reached the top, but no one called back. He was still not high enough to climb out of the ravine, or even peek at the flatland. Anyone could be up there, watching him. Anyone but his friends, that is. At least the worst of it was over, he hoped, and began the slow and cautious slide down the other side. 

The sun was high in the sky when he finally crawled out of the now shallow ravine - mud covered, thirsty, and exhausted. He pulled off his boots and scooped out the mud with his hands, then laid on his back and stared up at the sunlight through the branches.

"I have your bow." a voice called down from the trees.


	4. The Watchtower

Rhavaniel had inspected all of the lumber supplies in Mirkwood but had found nothing that compared to the Dwarf bow. There were several materials layered in the bow, actually. She had seen composites before, but never this complex. She really could not ask anyone about it, as that would raise unpleasant questions. She would have to go beyond Mirkwood's borders with the bow, she decided, and make a day of it. She had made such trips before, to the greener woods of Esgaroth. They were never planned trips, which would have been quite disobedient. She just allowed her feet to take her where they would, and they took her to something green and blooming every time.

A planned trip was different. She packed her own bow for protection, food and water, various supplies and sacks for collecting whatever bounty nature might provide. She left very early in the morning, enjoying the sight of dawn over Mirkwood as she took the treetop path.

When she was safely in the woods of Esgaroth, closer to Lake-Town than her own settlement, she dropped to the ground in a clearing. This was the perfect spot. She loaded the Dwarf bow for practice and again struggled to pull it back mere inches.  
"Dwarves must have been blessed with strength the way Elves were blessed with speed." she thought. She wondered why the gifts of Ilúvatar had been so unevenly distributed. Did the Father think that if one race had all of His gifts combined, they would diminish all other races into extinction? That did not make sense to her, as a race blessed with all of Ilúvatar gifts should possess nobility and kindness, always seeking to elevate others.

The bow continued to vex her as much as theology. She took out the arrow for safety, braced the bow on the ground with her foot and pulled with both hands. Now she was making progress.

She loaded the bow once more and laid upon the ground. Using both feet on the bow and both hands on the string, she pulled back on the bowstring. How they would laugh at her back in Mirkwood for doing this! Her aim would not count for much, but she pointed at a tall tree and released. 

Thwap!

The heavy arrow flew high and true into the trunk with a thump.

Rhavaniel was pleased. Perhaps when she was older, she would be able to use a bow of this heft, for it was a powerful weapon. She climbed up the tree to retrieve the arrow, for she had very few of them.  
While she was at her high perch, the fresh ravine caught her eye. The water might have dug up something of interest. Retrieving her supplies from the ground, she scurried back up to the treetops for a better view and headed North, following the ravine. It ended quickly enough with a shallow bed of rocks and mud. Oddly, some of the mud seemed to be moving.

Rhavaniel watched as Kili make his final climb out of the ravine and collapsed. She knew by gait and shape that this filthy thing was a Dwarf. Could it be one from Mirkwood? She had know the Dwarves had escaped the very night of her secret visit to the Keep. But this was a lone Dwarf, not thirteen. She recalled their features from the sketch book the children made, and ruled out all but Shadow on the face of this Dwarf. She jumped to a closer tree for a better look and confirmed it - no beard to speak of, and an archer's glove.

"I have your bow." she called down.

__________________________________________________

Kili froze in his tracks. His mind raced through the possibilities - delirium, a necromancer, a trap? An Elf girl was not a possibility, that is until Rhavaniel dropped to the ground in front of him.

Kili jumped back and pulled his sword. Rhavaniel realized her mistake and quickly offered open hands.

"I was studying it." she explained, "I did not know I would not get it back in time for your...release?" She laid his bow and quiver down on the ground and backed away.

Kili's suspicions circled back to a trap, but the bait was very tempting and the plotter quite small and seemingly alone. He crept up to the bow and quiver and grabbed them, his sword still at the ready. When he looked up, the girl was gone. If not for the solid feel of his own bow in his hand, he would have doubted she was ever there. His breath stopped, as he used all of his senses to anticipate how many eyes were upon him, and what they would do next.

Nothing.

He sheathed his sword and loaded the bow and with one slow look around, began walking at a brisk pace.

"Have you any food for your journey?" a soft voice called out.

Kili froze once more - heart stopped. This time, it was not a whole girl dropped sudden from the sky, but a slender elfin hand slipping from behind a tree, tapping an apple she'd placed on the ground.

The bait was less tempting this time, but if some trap were to spring upon him, it would have been done before he was given a bow to defend himself. Kili scooped up the apple, and tucked it in a pocket of his coat. The girl was already gone from behind the tree. But a whistle and a wave lured him to the next tree and leaf-wrapped piece of lembas bread, another apple, and a water skin. He pocketed the food and drank gratefully of the water. With one last look around and a shrug, he set out once more at a clip.

"What kind of wood is that?" Rhavaniel called out, peeking from behind a tree, "Your bow?"

Between Kili's urgent purpose, and his justified caution with all things encountered on this quest, he was reluctant to converse with this Elf girl. But he was a well-raised Dwarf, taught to speak when spoken to. This Elf had followed the rules of courtesy between fellow travelers and he would do a disservice to Dwarf-kind if he fell short of the same.

He weighed caution with manners, and without pausing, he turned his head back for a quick reply, "Yew."

"It most certainly is not yew!" Rhavaniel countered, flitting from tree to tree, first to one side of Kili, then in front and beside again. "My bow is yew, and I have made many a fine bow of yew or boxwood, and even ash. Your bow is none of those."

Since his reply had been met with open doubt, Kili did not believe the rules of manners required him to defend himself, so he kept silent and kept moving.

"Unless the yew grow differently where you are from, or you kiln fire it...or perhaps what Dwarf call yew is not the same in Common Speech?"

"We use root wood.", Kili replied, a bit indignant at the suggestion his vocabulary was flawed. "You Elves are all up in the trees, using branches. You don't think of what is below your feet. Root wood is stronger - it won't break when you need it. I bet my bow will last years longer than yours."

"I hadn't thought of root wood at all. And what is the beast, for the bone and sinew of the other layers?"

"It is horn, not bone, and it is goat."

"That is very interesting. We do not raise goat in the Kingdom. Stag is most commonly used, but not the horns, they are not long enough. I am Rhavaniel, by the way. I'm an arms maker."

Kili cast a doubtful glance, not lost on Rhavaniel, since she was trotting alongside him now. Kili was tall for a Dwarf and Rhavaniel was short for an Elf (or not yet fully grown, she hoped) so they were well matched at eye-level.

"An apprentice, yes. I am still only folding steel, but my arrows are already fit for the Guard. Look." 

She pulled out a fistful of arrow, to reveal a veritable sampler of Elf arrow heads. Slender points, leaf shapes, broad heads, a particularly vicious looking crescent, and a curiously ridged small point. Kili touched the last, and jerked his hand back as he tripped the spring barbs.

"Fish hunting head. I should have warned you. My apologies." said Rhavaniel.

"No harm. I've used fish heads before. I'm just not familiar with your type, is all. I am Kili. Pleased to meet you."

"Likewise." and after a brief moment of silence Rhavaniel asked, "How do Dwarf fish hunting heads differ?"

"I never cared for them enough to learn to make them." Kili told her, "I learned to make my own bows and arrows, but I am more interested in using them than making clever accessories. I hunt, I fight, I defend my people. I respect the arms craft, but I cannot converse with you on the right heat for the forge or number of turns on a spring. And I am sure an Elf Guard could not, either."

"You are right, of course." and after a pause, "Do you know where your bow rosin comes from?"

Kili nodded, "Aye, I know that."

In this fashion, Kili and Rhavaniel passed the greater part of the day. They discussed bow string and arrows, tree sap and fiber. Rhavaniel examined the brigantine armor of Kili's gauntlets with enthusiasm - and complete disregard for personal space. She did not slow his pace, for in truth she could have outrun Kili. But her eager questions and pleasant company helped pass the time and take him mind off the worry of locating his companions.

Kili came to a stop on the appointed ridge. He hooted a call to his Company but heard nothing in return. The ridge was far wider than they first thought. Perhaps he was too far East on the ridge for them to hear him? What if something happened to delay them? He knew they would not have passed the ridge without him, would they?

Rhavaniel kissed him quickly on the forehead, and he jumped back as if slapped.

"What was that for?" he asked with some annoyance, as she licked her lips.

"It tastes salty, just like mine. I knew Dwarves did not sweat rust. That was the silliest thing I have ever heard." Rhavaniel replied.

Kili looked at her sternly, "Night is coming, and you will be missed. The party looking for me and the party looking for you doubles my chances of being caught."

Rhavaniel had taken advantage of their pause to take a bite of her own apple, "I will not be missed for nine days, at least. Your odds remain the same. Bettered, if you figure that a second set of eyes will help you avoid a search party."

Kili looked at her doubtfully, "Elves do not misplace their children."

"I am not misplaced, I am myplaced." she laughed, then explained, "I take turns with various relations every seven days. They love me at every turn, but they can forget whose turn it is to love me. I slip away for a day here and there to do as I please. When my family meets and catches up, my welfare is always the first topic of conversation. Today however, I was going from one brother's care to the home of an uncle - two households that just happen to go the longest time between speaking. No one knows I am gone. I take this as a sure sign that I am where I am meant to be. I am myplaced."

"Still, you should be home, not traipsing through woods with strangers." Kili put on his best Uncle Thorin tone for this bit of wisdom.

"Oh, but this has been most educational. You are the first Dwarf I have ever spoken to and you are as easy to talk to as any of my Elf brethren."

Rhavaniel meant her words as a compliment, but she could not have known that this was a source of discomfort for Kili. By Dwarf standards, he was tall and slender-built, with fine features. His beard was still mostly stubble when some Dwarf babies are born fully bearded. He had been teased for looking like a child of Man, or worse, as pretty as a girl Dwarf, on more than one occasion. Each slight had been answered with a fist.

"Am I as well spoken as a Dwarf girl?" Rhavaniel asked guilelessly. 

Kili's discomfort worsened, for in truth he had hardly ever spoken to Dwarf girls. Fili, who was older and fared well with ladies of all ages, assured him this would get easier when he grew up and filled out a bit.

Kili was eager to change the subject, "Do you know where we are?"

Rhavaniel turned a full circle, "Hmmm, we are further than I have gone before. Oh, but I know what that is for!"

She pointed up, to the canopy of trees and their thick boughs that blotted out the sun. 

Kili was about to ask what was so special about those trees when he noticed it, the way four of them seemed to lean in toward each other. Once he knew what to look for, he could see how their branches almost looked woven together, so tightly that they formed a roof - or maybe a floor. 

It was an Elf Guard watchtower. Kili had heard of them. This was at the edge of the Old Kingdom of Esgaroth, where Elf, Dwarf, and Man were once neighbors, sharing in the responsibility of guarding their mutual borders. 

"They are still used for fire watch." Rhavaniel explained, "but it will surely be empty this time of year."

"It will be a safe place to wait and watch the entire ridge." Kili grinned. 

They raced to the base and began climbing the nearest tree. Kili was an agile Dwarf, and he could climb nearly as well as Rhavaniel.

"I don't think it is derelict. There should be supplies, if we are lucky."

"What will it have?" Kili asked eagerly.

"Arrows, a primus - what we Elves call a portable camp stove, charcoal, flint stones, lamps, and maybe even food."

Rhavaniel found the cleverly hidden trap door and darted inside. She reached down to grab Kili's hand and help him up. He was glad of her steady hand because the lightweight structure began to sway under his weight. He stood perfectly still on the birch bark sheets of flooring as Rhavaniel darted around, opening up the window panels and letting in the sunlight. The swaying settled, and Kili took cautious steps around to find his balance. 

While the outside of the watchtower had been allowed to weather to enhance its camouflage, the inside reflected handiwork of bored young Elf Guards with too much time on their hands. Not an inch was left unpainted or uninscribed. 

Once Rhavaniel had absorbed the surprising beauty of the place and Kili had mastered a lighter step, they turned to the practical matter of finding supplies. Hundreds of Elf arrows, tied in neat bundles of two-score, were stacked against walls. A few old, unstrung bows were hung high on the walls. There was a well-worn primus, two small oil lamps, and some bedrolls. The food situation fared worse. There were but a few pieces of lembas bread and a large gourd box of pine nuts in the center of the room, protected from scavenging small animals by an overturned cook pot. There was no sign of the food a well-kept tower should have held - an abundance of bread, dried fruit, jars of honey, beans, oats, and a dozen varieties of pickled vegetables in large amber crocks.

Kili sighed, "Better than nothing." and kept looking.

His eyes fell on the nearest wall, and a lovely sketch of the Thousand Caves of Menegroth. Graceful Elf figures peered from every tower spire. Men marched in a great procession to bear gifts to the wise and mighty Elf King, Thingol. The gardens below were intricately sketched in vibrant colors, and continued into lush forests filled with animals. Many hands over many years had made this. But a different and less skilled hand had continued the work by drawing the famous tunnels. Under the castle and gardens, far below the ground, someone had drawn hunched and naked Dwarves, birthing themselves from sacks like maggot larvae, to pick up axes and dig for the glory of the Elf King. That was the role of Dwarves in Elf legends. 

Kili pulled the largest piece or charcoal from the primus and scratched out the offending scene. Not stopping with the crude drawing, he continued up, obliterating the garden in black, streaking the towers, and erasing the Elves inside.

"Pssst." Rhavaniel let out a little squeak to get Kili's attention. 

He turned slowly, lest he cause the watchtower to tremble again. Rhavaniel silently but excitedly gestured to one of the freshly open windows. A crow-sized bird with bright orange plumage had alit on the sill. 

He knew she had intended to point out the bird for its beauty, but Kili had other designs. He had kept his bow close at hand and loaded. With a quick draw and release, his arrow impaled the bird against the window frame.

Rhavaniel spun around, "What did you do that for? It was beautiful, you brute!"

"I did it because I am hungry. An Elf can run all day on an apple and some bread crumbs but I cannot. There's another day worth of food here at best and I may be many days away from finding my people so I am going to have to hunt." 

He pulled the arrow and the bird from the wall and headed to the nearest trap door. "I told you, I don't make the weapons, I use them. I showed you respect as a maker. Show me the same for doing the dirty part of the job."

Kili retreated to the forest floor beneath the watchtower, where he started a small fire and cooked the bird alone. He didn't need that stinking Elf watchtower for anything. The Company would find him soon enough.

____________________________________

As darkness fell, Kili weighed the cost of his pride against climbing back up to the watchtower for one of those bedrolls. 

A light appeared, heading toward him, and he hooted out a call his fellow Dwarves would know. 

"It's only me." a hesitant voice called lightly. Rhavaniel lowered her lamp and stepped into the light of his campfire.

"I am sorry." she said. "Sorry I judged you. Sorry you are hungry."

Kili nodded a quiet acceptance. He knew he should have been the one to apologize. He should have behaved like Rhavaniel's guest in that watchtower. Guests do not draw a weapon under the host's roof.

"Not much of a meal, was it?" she asked.

Kili shook his head. In truth, it was such a small bird, he would not have wasted an arrow on it under normal circumstances. He had been more angry than hungry when he made that decision, and he regretted it. 

"I saved some feathers for you. For fletching, if you want."

Rhavaniel was nonplussed, but her quick and open mind reasoned that this was the way of Dwarfs - to be practical and to share what they had, even if what they had was not appealing to Elf sensibilities. "Thank you. That was very...considerate. Come, please, I have dessert ready in the watchtower, and it is not safe for you to sleep down here."

With a quick dousing of the fire, the pair climbed back to the watchtower.

When they returned to the treetop shelter, all of the window panels were closed, and the lamps were lit.

"I had to close them, lest our light be seen from other towers, but I looked out every direction first, and even went out on the treetops. I have seen no other lights this evening." Rhavaniel told him.

Kili nodded in silent disappointment. 

Eager to take Kili's mind off his concerns, she pointed to the cook pot, "I found a great cache of second-bloom berries, and a beehive nearby. I doubled the lembas bread I had with water, and put it in the cook pot with berries and honey to sweeten it. When the honeycomb is melted on top, you know it is done."

She lifted the waxen lid to reveal a sweet-smelling type of bread pudding. "You will have to eat from the pot, but at least I found spoons."

"Thank you," said Kili, "You should take the first bite."

"I am quite stuffed with berries and honey already, thank you. This is what you need, and we still have some lembas bread and pine nuts for your journey. And more honey."

Kili took a grateful first bite. 

"This is delicious," Kili complimented her.

Rhavaniel smiled, "You are too kind. I cannot set a proper Elf table, as my elders would be quick to tell you."

"I am not one for false flattery. This is better fare than we were served at Rivendell."

"You've been to Rivendell!" Rhavaniel exclaimed. Kili only nodded with his mouth full.

"Mirkwood Hall is the largest Elf city I have ever seen. Is Rivendell as beautiful as they say?"

After a good meal and a brief chat of the wonders of Rivendell, Kili retreated to a less cluttered portion of the Watchtower to sleep. 

Rhavaniel had no need of rest tonight, and thought of what she could do to keep busy until dawn.

Lowering the wick on her oil lamp and tiptoeing to the opposite corner of the watchtower, Rhavaniel set about cutting down a portion of the arrows to suite Kili's shorter bow. She cut the fletched ends, because she had to rework the nocks for a Dwarf bowstring. The bird feathers would be put to good use after all.


	5. The Delay

While Kili slogged below then in the Ravine, the twelve Dwarves and Bilbo resumed their trek through the mud.

"Care to share a marching song, Mr. Baggins?" asked Ori.

"Oh, we Hobbits are not much for the march. Pick one of your own, and I will follow in." Bilbo offered.

The Dwarves began to sing,

'Twas good to have,   
The gold of Erebor,  
And all the hoard  
in peace to hold.  
A waiting fortune,  
mem'ries dim,  
with passing time,  
Now ours to win.  
The Line of Durin,  
Still unbroken,  
leads the journey  
with his kin.  
Few the words of Thorin spoken:  
"Pick up swords for oaths we swore."  
"I know no mightier men on middle-earth,  
though we be few we'll win this war."

Fili heard Kili's voice become faint. From his vantage above, he could tell that Kili was pulling ahead of them.

"Slow down, brother, save your strength." Fili shouted. 

He had been marching beside Thorin, who put a hand in front his nephew, "Do not advise your men to lag. Would you coddle them all?"

The ground ahead of them grew worse, for they had entered marshland.

"We shall have to go around." Thorin told them. "It is not far. We can see the ravine on the other side. Just a few leagues out of our way."

Fili knew they were moving out of earshot, but continued to sing until Thorin bade them all "Stop! They will hear us back at Mirkwood. The worst thing we can do for Kili is to attract attention to ourselves."

The company went silent and glum. They had marched to midday when they stopped to rest the ponies, eat, and plan.

"This marsh has spread with the flood. There is no telling how far around we will have to go." Balin noted.

"We are losing time." Thorin grumbled, "We should see if we can cut through. Ori is the lightest, save for Bilbo. Send him out and see if he sinks."

Ori protested, "I won't be the lightest if my woolens get any wetter. Should we not actually send Bombur? If he does not sink, then a pony would be safe."

"Or send Bilbo." Bofur suggested, "He is the shortest. We need to know his head will remain above water if we cut through the marsh."

Fili grew frustrated with the bickering and debating. "I will go myself. Give me rope so you can pull me back, and a pole to test the ground before me." 

He threw off his hood and cloak, and took off his boots. Thorin wanted to object, on the grounds that the best fighter should remain ready for conflict, but he sensed that Fili had endured enough worry to skip this lesson in delegation of authority.

Bilbo collected a bundle of long sticks that Fili could use as markers for the best path. They selected the portion of marsh that looked most shallow, and Fili began his march with rope securing him tightly to the rest of the Company.

The experiment began well enough, with water and mud barely passing Fili's ankles. The ground looked solid through the width of the marsh. Fili had gone over three hundred paces, and his hopes soared just before his feet reached a sinkhole.  
The Company on (relatively) dry ground raised a collective shout when Fili's blond head disappeared under water. The pulled quickly, and Fili reappeared. 

"Hold!" he called, "I can go around a bit." A few more paces to the left, and the same plunge occurred. His companions pulled him up, only to see him sink again on another attempt.

Thorin sighed and took the lead on the rope. "Come back, Fili. We shall have to go around."

When Fili returned to the edge of the marsh, the company of Dwarves rushed to dry him off and warm him with sherry and blankets. 

Thorin comforted him. "Rest for a bit. We will go around, and be on the ridge long before dark."

It was a promise Thorin could not keep. The Dwarves marched through the mud the rest of the day only to arrive on the appointed ridge, exhausted and hungry, well after nightfall.

Fili, Óin, Gloin, and Bofur picked four directions and hooted for Kili, but dared not shout his name. Bilbo and the rest huddle together, while Thorin stood apart, in silence.

They saw no other fires. Had they known to look up, high in the trees, they still would not have seen the watchtower, less than a league East of them. Rhavaniel had already secured the panels for the night while Kili slept, and no light shone through.

"Start a fire." Thorin told them, "Kili is nearby. We will find him at daybreak."

The Dwarves made camp, and ate out of necessity. Though hungry, there was no satisfaction with that meal, as their minds were all on their missing companion.

At dawn, they ate cold leftovers and broke camp quickly, preparing to head East along the ridge, and find the head of the ravine.

They had only just secured the packs and ponies when Bilbo pointed in their planned direction. "Oh look, there's a campfire. That could be Kili's doing."

"That is no campfire!" someone shouted.

Great clouds of black smoke blocked the sunrise - replacing its light with a ring of burning trees.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song borrows heavily from the Poetic Edda


	6. The Escape

In the morning, Kili was awakened with a hushed whisper, "Orcs!" 

Rhavaniel gestured to the floor, and Kili rolled over to look through the cracks between the floor panels to the ground far below.

Ten large Orcs rode fierceWargs, and at least another twenty Orcs were on foot, milling around the base of the watchtower. They had picked up a scent, and found the remnants of Kili's fire.

"Don't look up, don't look up." Kili whispered a prayer.

They looked up. Kili and Rhavaniel recoiled. 

"They may not see the platform through those lower branches." she whispered.

Apparently, the Orcs could see enough to become suspicious, and eight began to climb, two per tree. More Orcs on Wargs gathered below them.

"There are too many of them. We shall have to run." Rhavaniel whispered as she scurried about, securing flimsy locks on the trapdoor. Kili noticed that Rhavaniel had packed every useful thing for him in the night. A large pack with his bow and new arrows held the last of the food, a medicinal kit, lamp, bedding, water and the primus. She had her own smaller pack ready and grabbed a large supply of arrows for herself.

"I think the East side will be safest. Branches do break, but I can judge which ones will bend instead."

Kili shook his head, "I cannot follow."

Rhavaniel froze and stared at him.

"I can't jump like you... I'm a Dwarf. I have to fight my way down." He was resigned, "Run as fast as you can through the trees. They will be distracted."

"No. I have an idea."

Gathering their packs, they crawled out though a window opening onto one of the four great cross-branches of the watchtower.

"Hold on to the trunk and don't look down." Rhavaniel warned him, as she flitted from one branch to the next, cutting chords, until only one remained between their chosen tree and the watchtower.

Kili risked a glance down. Had he been able to see the ground below, it might have made his head spin. The branches were too thick from his perch, but not so thick he could not hear the Orcs closing in on them.

Rhavaniel was behind him in a flash, fumbling though his pack. She took out the spare lamp oil, broke the seal, and tossed it inside. Next, she lit a match and held it up.

"Take my hand." she said. Kili turned and she grabbed him by the wrist. "Hold on and trust me. When I tell you, cut that last rope."

Kili's heart rose as if it would like to escape his chest as he realized what she was about to do. 

"At least this will take some Orcs down with us." he thought grimly.

As the rustling of leaves grew louder, and the birds began to shriek their protest of these rough intruders to their nests, Kili could see the first of the Orcs lift the platform trap door.

Rhavaniel tossed the match inside, and the oil soaked bark floor erupted in flames. 

"Now!" she called.

Kili cut the last rope, and with a groan, the ancient tree stretched as if awakened from a centuries old nap and attempted to right itself. Before Kili and Rhavaniel were tossed through the air, they saw the Watchtower, engulfed in flames, collapse and spill its burning material down on the Orcs below.


	7. Rough Landing

The rising sun was blinding, and Kili has no idea which direction was up as they spun through the air. The grazing of branches against his boots told him that Rhavaniel had managed to maneuver their feet underneath them. A sickening crack and a gasp from the girl let him know she was struck with a heavy branch, and he tightened his grip on her as he felt her long fingers slip.

As their trajectory slowed, Kili's sense of weightlessness ended and he felt the full weight of his pack dragging him down. He could see the green tops of gentle firs - the trees Rhavaniel must have been hoping they could reach. His surroundings become clearer, and as he prepared for impact, he realized his short knife was still in his hand.

Kili turned as best he could in mid-air, to lean forward with his right side and bring Rhavaniel behind him. He realized that Rhavaniel had been trying to grab the branches and catch their fall, but she was not strong enough, not with the weight of them both and all of their gear. But he was strong, and quick enough, if only his aim could be true.

His booted foot hit the fir trunk first, and he put the knife in to the hilt and did not let go. They slowed with a jerk against the tree, but then it yielded to them. Boughs swayed and rocked and bent slowly until they hovered a few feet above the ground. Rhavaniel rolled off from behind Kili with an un-Elfin gracelessness and landed on her bottom, still holding his wrist.

"Let go." Kili whispered to her. She shook her head no, but had no air for words. He felt the fir tense beneath him and realized with a start it was about to snap him back up. He could not shake his knife loose, and in a split second made the heartbreaking choice to leave it in the tree.

As he rolled off and joined Rhavaniel on the ground, the tree violently righted itself and rained them with a thick layer of dust and needles.

"Are you hurt?" he asked.

"A bit, but I can walk. Run if I have to." she gasped.

They could smell the smoke, and hear the screaming of Orcs from the firetrap they set.

"Run it is." Kili was up on his feet first. With a quick mutual dust off and adjustment of their packs, the two began running North.

They did not stop running until mid-morning, when they paused for rest and water. They put down their packs with relief.

Both were filthy, and the dirt left their clothes - her green-hued jacked embroidered with ferns, and his blue traveling cloak of Dwarf spirals - indistinguishably drab and grey.

Rhavaniel began to unwind a long strip of cloth from her hand. Kili hadn't noticed it, until he realized it was soaked with blood.

"What happened?" he asked.

"I could not hold on to any branches - none of them. I misjudged my strength. I am sorry." Rhavaniel sat on a mossy rock. "Hand me the white gourd on my pack, please?"

Kili grabbed it and walked over to her as she unwrapped the last stiff bit of cloth, revealing the shredded palm and fingers. Splinters were still attached, one having pierced the palm and gone through the back of her hand.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Kili asked with a grimace.

"Because we had to run." She replied, "I will clean it now. The balm will help, and I can start to heal."

"You should have said something." Kili scolded.

"It will be alright." she assured him.

"But you can't use your bow like that, can you? Or climb fast with one good hand. You should have said 'stop' sooner. You need to know what I can't do, and I need to know what you can't do." Kili pointed out.

Kili was angry with her. The Dwarf was right, as her family was always right when correcting her. But Dwarves seemed to have much less patience and tolerance for these mistakes. Were all Dwarves like this? She didn't like it, but she had to admit she would not be making the same mistake twice around Kili. Being raised by committee, as it were, she generally allowed herself to stand gently corrected by half a dozen relatives before adjusting her behavior.

She pulled out her fine tool kit, bound up in leather, and unrolled it on the rock beside her. There were tweezers that would do nicely to pull out the splinters.

"I will get that." said Kili impatiently, taking them from her, "I can do it faster." 

After a few minutes of silent plucking and swabbing, Kili spoke gently to her, "I am not mad that you couldn't catch a branch dragging five-fold your weight. I didn't expect that you could. I will need to know what you are thinking if we're going to be stuck looking out for each other." 

Rhavaniel nodded in understanding.

_____________________________________

Back at the ridge, a band of burned and bedraggled Orcs and Wargs found a few drops of blood under a great fir tree. Their leader called for one to climb up for a look around. The vile creature discovered Kili's knife, and pulled it out of the tree, throwing it down to the ground. The Wargs breathed deep - they had the scent of two now.


	8. Hunted

With her wounded hand cleaned and wrapped, Rhavaniel turned her attention to Kili's pack and the arrows she had made for him throughout the night at the Watchtower.

"We had better see if these work, or there is no value in carrying them any farther," she said.

"All the Elf arrows were much too long and narrow for your bow. I took three arrows and bonded them together, cut them to fit your bow, and fletched them as one. The nock is chipped along all three to work with your bowstring. You will have to try one to see if the balance is right. I cannot pull you bow." she said sheepishly.

Kili had more than a few doubts that this concoction would work, but he was impressed with the resourcefulness of the Elf. The three-headed point did look quite menacing.

"I will take a shot." and he loaded the bow. She had the length and the nock right, at least. He aimed carefully for a low hanging branch and released. To his surprise, the arrow sailed smooth and hit its mark.

Kili was deeply relieved. The few original arrows he made for himself were not going to last long in these woods. "Those will work, thank you. You are a clever girl."

"My hands are quick. It makes up for being slow of wit." Rhavaniel said as she picked up her pack and they begin to walk again.

"Why would you say such a thing?" Kili inquired.

"I am mediocre in studies outside the forge." she confessed, "But that is not what vexes me. It is my lack of ...comprehension... of the world. For example, my second parents left for the Undying Lands when I was small. I know they were old, and had lived a full live, but the idea that one could grow weary of Middle-Earth, with all its wonders, is something I still cannot understand. Here I've met a Dwarf and it may take years to know you. You are a young Dwarf, I think?" Kili nodded, "So, you will not be the same today as you will be tomorrow. Every day is different - no two sunrises, or apple blossoms, or snowflakes are the same. And I could not find two the same in a thousand years. I can't imagine being weary of it."

"They left?" Kili asked, "Your grandparents? They did not have to go?"

Rhavaniel turned to him, "Grandparents? Oh, by second parents I meant the parents who cared for me when I was small. I do not recollect my first parents, but I was quite attached to my second parents."

"They made a choice to leave, and planned it in great detail. It was a beautiful celebration, with all of their friends and family, and music, speeches and laughter. Everyone was happy. I was still small. I heard all that was said, but my wits did not understand it because I thought they were going on a sail and would be back soon. I did not know I would never see them again. I did not even know enough to be sad that day, or the next, or for many days thereafter. I was very ignorant, and the realization was slow to creep in. My poor siblings had to cope with me constantly asking when they would be back. The answer never changed, so I do not know why I kept asking."

"My father died," Kili told her, "in battle. I was young, but I remember."

"Did you know enough to be sad?" she asked, with curiosity rather than self-pity.

"Aye, I knew to be sad." he replied.

"Then you were far smarter than I was."

___________________________________

 

They hiked North until mid-day. Rhavaniel selected a tall tree and climbed to assess the best path forward. To her dismay, she discovered a party of Orcs and Wargs approaching. She scurried down the tree to confer with Kili.

"The Orcs from this morning are tracking us, and we are upwind of them." she reported.

"Is it still a large group?" he asked. 

She nodded, "At least twelve of the twenty riders we saw before, and I could not tell how many foot soldiers."

"We will have to double back and get downwind," he says grimly.

"Perhaps you can climb here, with our packs, while I race ahead and deliberately leave a scent. The trees are tall and thick, and I can come back to you safely along the high branches. They won't see me, and I am light enough that they will not hear me." 

Kili had to admit, it was a good plan. After the Ravine, he was reluctant to be separated from his new companion, but he saw no alternative.

"Take this." Kili handed an empty food sack from his pocket to Rhavaniel, so that she could drag it on the ground for scent. He hoisted both of their packs with ease and began the climb. "Go no more than a half league ahead of me." he warned, as she took off along the forest floor at a sprint.

Kili secured the packs between sturdy mid-height branches and kept climbing with just his bow and a good supply of arrows. He had a clear view of the ground from his perch and not long to wait before the band of Orcs passed beneath him. They did not slow as they continued to track Rhavaniel.

He counted thirteen Orcs on Wargs and at least twenty Orcs on foot. They passed beneath him without looking up or wavering from their mission. His relief was short lived, knowing that meant all the risk was on the Elf girl now. He regretted that he let Rhavaniel engage in such a dangerous plan. He waited anxiously in the tree. He knew Mahal answered the prayers of Dwarves, but did not know if Mahal's grace applied to Elves. He thought there was no harm in trying, so he offered a quick prayer for Rhavaniel's safety. He was not long waiting for the reward of sight of her, half a league away, popping up through the treetops. She waived an all-clear, and dropped in and out of his sight as she slowly worked her way back to him along the high branches.  
When she joined him in the tree, she smiled, "Back in time for lunch." and handed him his sack. She had managed to find wild grapes along the path and grabbed as much as she could stuff in it.

"Well done." Kili told her, then froze, looking down. They had both failed to see one straggling Orc, far behind the others on a badly injured and lame Warg. It had heard them.

The Orc whipped his ragged Warg to a run as Kili climbed as fast as he could down the tree. Rhavaniel raced along the branches to get ahead of him.

Kili shot an arrow before his feet even hit the ground. The Warg fell and rolled, taking the Orc down with him. The Orc began to scream for his companions when Rhavaniel's arrow through his throat silenced him. Kili raced up as Rhavaniel dropped to the ground, shaken and pale.

"You did well." Kili told her.

Rhavaniel nodded, "It had to be done." and after a pause, "Does he have anything we can use?"

Kili was more surprised at her practicality than her willingness to take a life. He had never imagined the haughty Elves would consider foraging dead Orcs in the woods. 

"Let's look, but be quick about it."

They decided his shield and helmet were too cumbersome, and his lance too heavy for their journey. They took two smaller spears, a knife, and a ragged bit of his cloak to lay down a false scent.

Rhavaniel noticed an enamel feather pierced through the Orc's ear and took it. "This is Elvish," she showed Kili, "unique to the Avari tribe. They are distant kin to Silvan. Some live in western settlements of Mirkwood, and on the southern mountain range."

"Then he has killed your kind. Let that reassure you of your actions today." Kili said grimly.

Rhavaniel pondered the ornament, "Odd that an Orc would choose to wear it the same way as Elf."

She cautiously approached the fallen Warg, to check the saddlebags. The Warg whimpered, for it was not dead after all.

"They did not even try to treat his burns." she noticed.

"Get back," Kili warned, with arrow drawn.

"No!" she help up her hand.

"We have to kill it." Kili said.

"Are we going to eat him?" she demanded.

"No!" Kili replied.

"Is he going to eat us, in this condition? Please spare him. This is not squeamishness. I see something in his eyes that asks for mercy and if it is in our power to grant it, we should." Rhavaniel pleaded.

Kili kept a sharp eye and loaded bow on the Warg. He had thought to yell at Rhavaniel, perhaps crack her along the side of her head with his bow, the way Uncle Thorin had done to him on more than one deserved occasion. But the girl had listened to him and proven herself today. She had earned benefit of doubt. 

"Be quick about it." he said grudgingly.

Kili's arrow had gone clean through the Warg's rear leg. Rhavaniel quickly bound the wound with cloth. The animal was too weak to protest.

Rhavaniel retrieved her balm from her pack, and patted it on the Warg's burns as she unhooked his saddle. She threw the saddlebags to Kili. There was food in one - putrid and unidentifiable. Kili tossed it back to her, "We are not that hungry yet. Leave it for the beast."

Rhavaniel prepared a bowl of water for the Warg as well, from the dead Orc's supplies.

Kili took what he thought worthwhile - leather chord, some throwing spikes, fishing hooks and line, and some chainmail. The last thing he pulled out of the second saddle bag was a long braid of silken chestnut hair that could only have come from an Elf. As it unraveled, Kili saw a piece of dried scalp still attached. He tossed the gruesome trophy behind a rock before Rhavaniel could see it.

"We're done here."


	9. Good Bye

Kili and Rhavaniel ate their grapes as they continued to backtrack. Kili was silent and brooding. ' _No doubt worried about where the rest of his companions are_.' she thought. Kili had already confided that he had family among the twelve Dwarves, and the rest may as well have been Uncle and brother to him.

"I doubt you are quick enough to do this." she teased, tossing a grape high in the air and catching it in her mouth. It was childish, she knew, but she was not too proud to offer up a playful distraction.

"Try it again." he told her. She grinned and tossed her head back, releasing the next grape even higher. Before it completed its drop, Kili shoved her aside and caught it himself.

"Grow up the younger brother in a Dwarf home, and you learn to fight proper for your food." he smiled at her.

Rhavaniel laughed, "What dish was most worth fighting for?" she asked.

"Oh, that depends on the season." he replied, and she once again turned the conversation to pleasant and familiar subjects.

By mid-afternoon, they had doubled back nearly to the burned edge of the ridge.

"I think we're safe to turn North now. Let's pull out that stinking Orc rag to cover our scent." Kili said.

"What is that?" Rhavaniel pointed to two figures on the ridge.

"Elf Guard!" spat Kili as they dropped down behind some brush.

Rhavaniel stole a longer glance, "There are only two of them. I do not think they are searching for you. They are not numbered or equipped to look for a large party of Dwarves. I suspect they have come to investigate the fire. They may have seen the smoke from Mirkwood, and we have agreements with Lake-Town to maintain fire watch even in this part of the old Kingdom of Esgaroth. It is Elf duty and privilege to guard the forest."

Kili agreed with her assessment, "That makes sense." and after a thoughtful pause, "Rhavaniel, you should go to them."

"No." She said.

Kili looked at her, "Seriously, I am very grateful for your help. I would not have survived without you, but it is dangerous out here. How many nights have you spent in strange woods, and how many Orcs have you fought? One and one. There will be more and more. There will be too many. Take those riders as a sign of where you need to be - back home."

Rhavaniel 's mind raced, "Would you turn yourself in?" she asked. In response to Kili's look of shock, "You would be safe, well fed, and your people could ransom you back when they return."

"No!" Kili replied.

"For all you know, the rest of your group may already be back at Mirkwood in the Keep." she countered.

Kili had not thought of that, but it was possible the others had been caught. Why else had they not met him at the rendezvous yesterday? Being in Mirkwood Keep would have been preferable to meeting a large party of Orcs. Kili knew he could not give up though, or give in to despair.

"I will do no such thing," Kili told her, "I made a promise and I will keep it, even if I be the only one to reach...the Iron Hills."

Rhavaniel was crestfallen.

Kili found the right words, "Though I do not take your advice, I respect the wisdom and friendship with which it was offered. Thank you."

Rhavaniel nodded sadly. "I understand. For my part, I will take your advice. I will go home."

"Warn them about the Orcs." Kili told her, "That alone will help me. Even King Thranduil would rather hunt Orcs than Dwarves, considering we've killed none of your kind. Show them the feather clip you found."

She rose to leave and he pulled her back.

"Don't tell them you gave me food, or weapons, and for the love of Mahal don't tell them you set their Watchtower on fire. "

Rhavaniel gave him a sly grin, "I can manage this, Kili, I am an adept liar."

Kili looked surprised, "Really?"

Rhavaniel nodded, "Yes, highly skilled. I merely had not had a chance to show you yet. Or perhaps I did, and you still do not realize it."

He chuckled. She was endlessly surprising, this Elf. "Good bye then."

"Good bye, and safe journey. May you find your place in the world, Kili of Durin."

Kili watched as Rhavaniel trotted off to the two Elves and let out a whistle of greeting. She was too far away for him to hear the conversation, but he could see her warmly greeted by her Elf brethren. He felt as alone as had in the bottom of the Ravine, but he was relieved. He did not want to be responsible for putting a mere Elfling in the path of harm a moment longer.

Kili remained hidden until Rhavaniel jumped on the back of one Guard's horse, and they set out in the general direction of Mirkwood, across the burned ridge. Kili remained under cover of the standing trees, and headed North alone.  
Kili had traveled less than a league beyond the ridge when he heard it - breaking underbrush. He turned and caught sight of them - thirteen Orcs on Warg, running hard.

 _'When they finally lost our scent, they must have doubled back and found their dead companion.'_ Kili mused. But why had they kept heading West and not turned North? All of Azog's hoard were looking for Dwarves headed to Lonely Mountain in the North.  
Kili thought back to the behavior of the Orcs that very morning. They would never have suspected Dwarves of camping in such tall trees, but they looked up, they knew how to spot the signs of an Elf watchtower.

The Orc that Rhavaniel killed used face paint, as did the others in his pack. Azog's filthy Orcs were not painted. This was a different tribe of Orc. The gruesome Elf trophy... they were never hunting him. They were hunting Rhavaniel. Skita! He should have told Rhavaniel about it, so that she would in turn warn the Guards. Were they still riding across that open ridge, exposed?

Kili dropped his pack, turned South and began to run back to the Burnt Ridge.

The sound of screaming horses let Kili know he was too late. The Elves had been caught on open ground, with no trees to flee to.


	10. Surrounded

Rhavaniel had been thrown clear when the horse beneath her was felled by arrows. The Elf Guard she was riding behind was not so lucky. The screaming animal toppled over, trapping him. Rhavaniel knew him - Glennodad, a fine young Elf not more than three hundred years old. The Elf Guard officer, Vehiron, was using his own dead horse as shield. Rhavaniel quickly did the same.

The Orcs clearly had a strategy, with the smaller Orcs forming a screaming, darting, inner circle and the larger Orcs and Wargs circling from a safer distance. The Orcs had lit green branches, creating a blinding smoke which made it harder for Vehiron to find his mark. Despite the distractions, he was able to dispatch a number of small Orcs with deadly efficiency. The larger Orcs were obviously willing to sacrifice their foot soldiers.

Rhavaniel grabbed Glennodad's quiver and handed it to Vehiron. She pushed her stolen Orc spear under the dead horse as a lever and lifted with all her might. The dead horse budged enough for her to reach under and grab the Guard's boot, pulling his leg fee. The leg was broken and bloody below the knee, and even in his unconscious state, Glennodad groaned in pain.

"Leave him be and pick up his bow!" Vehiron told her.

Rhavaniel complied, putting her anger into her aim at the largest Orc.

 _"Take out the leader if you can."_ Kili had told her, " _Most Orcs are worthless cowards without the one they fear the most."_

While sitting upright to shoot, Rhavaniel was suddenly an exposed target. The Orcs began the next phase of their plan.

The grappling hook sunk into her left arm with a searing pain, and a sharp tug caused her to miss her mark. Her arrow hit the largest Orc in his thigh instead of his chest, and he roared in rage and pain.

Rhavaniel cut the rope on the grappling hook with Glennodad's sword. The grappling hooks came again, and she could not take even a second shot with her bow. She was using it to swat away the hooks.

She turned to Vehiron and freed him from a hook, only to have two more catch him, and another catch his bow, tearing it from his hands.

"Down to swords, little one." he told her, drawing out his own glowing blade.

Rhavaniel deflected and cut away hooks for both of them. She realized too late that their fallen comrade had been hooked by Orcs, until they had dragged him beyond the pitiful shelter of dead horses.

Rhavaniel screamed and lunged after him, but Vehiron held her back.

She did not want to witness them butchering her brethren, but could not bear to look away, as if that would leave him even more alone. But the Orcs did not kill him. They stripped him of armor and weapons and wrapped him in net.

"They want us alive." she whispered to Vehiron, then shouted, "Surrender!"

"No, child!" Vehiron pushed her down. But the circling foot soldiers had suddenly stopped screaming and jabbing. The commander of the group, astride his silver-furred Warg, had raised his hand to quell them.

"We can buy ourselves time, brother." she whispered.

"And their leader shows himself..." Vehiron understood. Though they had no idea what to do with the information, at least they had it.


	11. Stand

The leader of the Orcs rode forward and gestured for Rhavaniel to rise. He looked like the personification of every nightmare of her young life, and she thought she would become sick with fear.

Vehiron put a hand on her shoulder, keeping her seated on the ground. "Let the girl go, and I will lay down my sword. She will take word to our King Thranduil, who will ransom me and my fellow Guard from you for a handsome price."

"No ransom," the Orc named Naur stated, "not unless he will trade two more girls for his Guards."

Vehiron turned pale.

"Did not think so." Naur smirked. "Not very pretty, is she?" 

The Orc that Rhavaniel shot in the leg rode closer as well, joining his leader and said in Orcish. "She will be less pretty when I pull this arrow from my leg, AND CARVE HER FACE WITH IT!"

"I only meant that I prefer fair-haired Elves. No one is going to make her bleed, not even you, Ronkûr. Get that wound tended to, and keep your distance or I will put an arrow in your other leg." 

Naur was much smaller than Ronkûr, but he was obeyed. His sharp mind and cruelty made up for his lack of size, and propelled him to leadership at an early age.

Ronkûr backed his Warg up slightly, and shoved the broken arrow out the other side of his leg with a roar and a spurt of blood. He ripped off a ragged piece of his clothing to bind the wound, and rode back to the circle's outer edge.

"One of us must reach home, Vehiron." Rhavaniel whispered. "Do not wait for me. I will be in the hands of Ilúvatar. If you see a break in their circle, take it and run."

"I will not dishonor the Guard or my family name by leaving a child to the mercy of Orcs." Vehiron insisted.

"We will fight, then." Rhavaniel stood up on wobbly legs. She had slid Glennodad's glowing sword behind her, beneath her jacket. She had also hidden the Orc spear, but more clumsily, at her side. She hoped that if they easily found one weapon on her, they would not search hard for a second. Vehiron also stood, but did not lower his sword. The Orcs would never have believed an Elf Guard would make this easy.

As she approached Naur, he held up a hand to stop her. He called to one of the smaller Orcs, and pointed to Rhavaniel's side. The Orc foot soldier walked up to her. He barked at her, and laughed when she jumped. 

"Give it!" the creature hissed at her.

Rhavaniel heard the familiar whiz of an arrow, and the wet thump of pierced flesh. Naur screamed, and his lifeless body pitched forward. She saw the arrow protruding from his back, adorned with orange fletch - it was Kili!

All eyes were on Naur as he crumpled off his Warg. Rhavaniel pulled out the hidden spear and impaled the Orc soldier in front of her. The spear sunk deep, and she was unable to pull it out. She pushed the shrieking Orc over and ran past him.  
Vehiron had also leaped at the distraction, and charged the Orc line, creating a break for her. 

Rhavaniel looked over at Vehiron, and he shouted at her "Run!" 

She did, heading in the direction she though Kili was hiding.


	12. Run

Rhavaniel ran from the Burnt Ridge, pulling out the sword. The Orcs that were not scattered from the shock of the attack on their leader were intent on battling Vehiron. Only one Orc pursued Rhavaniel - Ronkûr.

Rhavaniel was fast, but not a match for a Warg on the ruined ground of the burned forest floor.

Kili jumped out from behind the charred trunk of the last tree standing, and took aim. He hit Ronkûr's Warg squarely in the eye, killing it. Ronkûr and his dead Warg plowed hard into the ashes and he screamed in frustration. He would never over take them on foot.

"Follow me!" Kili called to Rhavaniel. 

They ran, keeping low behind the brush. They ran until they came upon Kili's pack, and picked it up.

"What do I do?" she asked in despair.

"Head North with me, away from here. You can't help them. There are too many." 

Kili knew Rhavaniel's thoughts were with her fellow Elves. They could still hear the fighting on the Ridge, but Rhavaniel knew Kili was right - she nodded her head, shouldered her pack, and they both began to run.

They ran until the sword in Rhavaniel's hand stopped glowing, and night fell.


	13. The Discovery

Thorin and the Company had fled Burnt Ridge and regrouped at a safe distance just north of the fire. Half the Dwarves spent the better part of the day chasing down the last three ponies that had bolted in panic. All of their supplies were intact, and nothing was lost....aside from Kili.

They watched the forest fire sputter itself out in the damp surrounding ground. Smoke and steam blew in their direction, and made the afternoon sun disappear as if behind thunderclouds.

"What do we do now?" Bilbo asked of Balin.

"Calm the ponies. Eat, if you have stomach for it. Pray for a sign." Balin sighed.

Fili approached Thorin, "We must go back and wait at the ridge for Kili. That is what we told him to do."

"We cannot. " Thorin responded, eyes downcast. "The fire is still hot and we would be completely exposed. Kili is not on that ridge. He is too smart for that. He would know to head North toward Lonely Mountain. We will spot him on our way."

"Or he is still stuck in the ravine, where we left him!" spat Fili.

Thorin sighed. "Get Dwalin. We three will go to the ridge...look for a sign that Kili was ever there. If there be none, we will all look South, for the head of the ravine, tomorrow."

Fili nodded with relief.

It took the three hardiest Dwarves an hour to reach the edge of the spent forest fire.

"Halt." Dwalin drew up sharply. A dead Warg lay before them, an arrow though its eye. Dwalin pulled the strange arrow out and looked at the three heads, "Elves...must have been a fight here."

They pulled out their swords, and continued cautiously to the top of the ridge. They saw the carnage of dead horses, another lifeless Warg, and several dead Orcs.

"Wonder who won." Dwalin mused. His experienced soldier's eyes could tell that the Orcs had been circling - they had trapped something. Whatever it was, it had put up a fight. Dwalin noted the evidence - Elf arrows in an Orc corpse - more Elf arrows. Now a spear - they had turned to hand-to-hand combat here. 

Sword wounds now appeared on the Orc bodies. A severed Orc hand here - an arm there. An Elf Guard helmet lay on the ground. 

"Here was your last stand." Dwalin spoke in a grudging respect. He lifted the helmet and saw it - Kili's knife.

Dwalin dropped to his knees and cried out a curse to Mahal. This was not the sign he had been praying for.


	14. The Stream

"Kili, wake up. Wake up." He was dreaming that he and Fili were small, and he had lost Fili in the scrubby pines at the foot of Blue Mountain.

Rhavaniel shook him awake, "I have something to show you."

Kili was startled by her appearance. He had not seen her with her black hair loose and hanging down to her knees in waves. She was scrubbed clean, and her leggings and blouse were neatly restored. She had cleaned and changed the bandages on her hand and arm, and the wounds apparently no longer pained her. The ability of an Elf to heal herself was not just a myth, Kili noted.

He rose, stiff and sore, from the bower. His pack was already gone, but his bow and quiver, which he had kept his hand on even in his sleep, were still there. Rhavaniel gathered up the bedroll for him.

They trudged silently for a quarter league before Kili heard the stream, and he let out a sigh of relief.

Rhavaniel turned and smiled. "I found it last night and washed my clothes. I would have washed yours as well, but I thought it unwise to wake you."

The thought of an Elf doing common labor was unimaginable to Kili, and here was one offering to wash his clothes. He supposed even the high and mighty Elves got dirty and someone had to get down on bended knees and scrub the floors. He just never thought he'd find an Elf to admit to it.

"You had no need of sleep?" Kili asked.

"Not last night. I prayed for a long time instead, for the souls of my brethren. I felt much better afterwards, and was able to focus again on what we needed - fire, food, water." She gestured to their provisions. She had set up their supplies by the stream, with a lembas pudding cooking on the primus and her jacket still drying by the fire.

"That's the last of the bread and berries," she said, "but here is good news."

She bent down to the shallow edge of the stream and brushed at the silt. The morning sun caused it to sparkle. 

"Gold dust. This stream comes from Lonely Mountain. The Men of Lake-Town sluice all such streams for bits of gold. Your second rendezvous point with your companions is under the shadow of Lonely Mountain, you said? We can follow this upstream, have a sure water supply, and cover our scent."

Kili was not convinced, "That may take much longer than a crow's flight."

"Aye, but this may be the safest way. What would your Uncle do?"

Kili hesitated. Uncle Thorin would have lied to this Elf, which is exactly what Kili had done. He had told her they were heading to the Iron Hills to find work. Kili certainly could not share the true nature of their quest, or the very limited time they had to succeed.

Kili mumbled, "He would take the fastest way."

"Alright, but what direction is that? Can you see the Mountain?"

"Point taken." he conceded, "We should follow the stream one day and night, and judge again tomorrow. It will at least take us to higher ground and show us more possibilities." 

Kili pulled the cook pot off the primus, since the pudding was done, and allowed it to cool.

"You shall have to share this time." Rhavaniel told him as she began to braid her hair. 

She gestured to a pooled part of the stream, where she had left soap and some clean cloth. Kili was grateful for a chance to wash his hands and face, the least he should do before sharing breakfast.


	15. Fishing Lessons

Rhavaniel and Kili put down their packs to drink and rest from the noon sun. Kili was lost in thought when the arrow came down in the water, not two feet from him. It was Rhavaniel's - she had warned him she was going to try bow fishing, but the arrow had startled him.

Kili gave her a stern look, "I do not care that Elves never miss. Do not shoot anything that close to me again unless it is about to bite me."

Rhavaniel was too pleased with her first catch to be worried about Kili's mildest scolding to date.

"I told you I could hunt if I had to." She proudly pulled the dead fish out of the water. 

"I can clean it, too." she squatted down by Kili and pulled out her whittling blade.

She opened the stomach, as she had seen done before in markets. Her family rarely if ever ate meat, and she had no interest in it herself, so this was her first attempt at cleaning a fish. How hard could it be?

"Oh, is that, is that eggs? Oh my...", the sight of the viscera disturbed her, replacing the confident grin with a queasy grimace. She dropped the fish and her knife, and crawled to the stream to splash cold water on her face.

Kili laughed and picked up the fish to complete the job, "That is the best part of the fish."

"Oh, you are evil. Do not think of eating that in front of me." Rhavaniel scowled.

"Not the raw guts. The eggs, at the right time of year, are cooked into a fine relish. My mother makes the best." Kili continued the cleaning. 

"I do not want to hear that recipe! If the ingredients sound sickening, that does not bode well for the finished product." Rhavaniel then burst into laughter. "I can see myself running in terror from a Dwarf kitchen. What other horrible bits of beasts are in there?"

"You are quick to laugh at yourself." Kili remarked with a smile.

Rhavaniel smiled back at him, "I should like to laugh at someone else but the relentless perfection of my kind allows for little opportunity. Perhaps this is why I like Dwarves so much - something to laugh at."

"Really?" Kili pulled a strand of fish gut from behind his back and chased her with it until she shrieked in mock indignation.

After their diversion, and the catching of two more fish, Kili and Rhavaniel started a small fire to prepare their lunch. They decided unanimously that Kili would do the cooking.

"Ready to try it?" Kili asked.

Rhavaniel nodded and took her first bite of fish. "This is not bad. It tastes like marsh root with a bit of pine nut. A lot of pine nut. Yes, that is what I will pretend I am eating."

Kili smiled at her. He wondered how this girl could be so very odd to him in her thoughts and actions, yet still make him feel as comfortable as if he was with a lifelong companion.


	16. Hunting Lessons

Kili and Rhavaniel had spent an uneventful night camped by the river. There had been no sign of pursuing Orcs or Wargs. Their second day following the river unfolded much the same as the first. They were traversing a long, low valley and still had no opportunity to take their bearing.

"Before nightfall, we should reach that higher ground. We may be able to see Lonely Mountain from the treetops." Kili said once Rhavaniel climbed down from a tree.

"I saw a herd of stags up on that hill. It is a good sign that there are no Wargs or Orcs up there." she reported.

Kili was pleased with the news. "Good, we might have a chance to hunt before the day is through. We are downwind of them."

They marched throughout the day. Their lunch consisted of some apples found along the way and a jar of honey that Rhavaniel had collected near the Watchtower before the fire. They did not stop for catching and cooking fish, for they wanted to reach higher ground before dark.

They were halfway up the hill when the sound of breaking underbrush told them the stags were on the move toward them.

Kili and Rhavaniel stood together, bows drawn. 

"Just like we talked about." Kili told her, "Aim for where it will be, not where it is, and follow my lead. Are you ready?" 

He looked at her, and she nodded. A stag galloped into view and they fired at the same time, bringing it down.

They set to butchering the animal, planning to take only what they could easily carry. Rhavaniel's initial squeamishness passed quickly, and she was able to watch and learn as Kili explained how to dress a fresh kill.

"Here," he told her, "Throw the rest down that little gully. We don't want the Orcs sniffing it out easily."

As Rhavaniel started to drag the carcass away, she spotted something as black as a shadow moving in the woods and froze. It was a Warg, staring back at her. His white chest and the bandage still visible on his rear leg allowed her to recognize him as the one they spared two days ago.

Rhavaniel alerted Kili, "He caught up to us. We are not making such good time following the water, are we?"

Kili pulled his bow and whispered, "Off to the side."

Rhavaniel instead moved closer to the Warg."He is not well enough to hunt yet."

"Good!" Kili stated what he thought should be obvious, "If he gets any better, he will be hunting us."

Rhavaniel dragged the carcass closer to the Warg, dropped it and backed away, "No, we did not spare him to kill him later. He is no harm to us."

The Warg eyed her cautiously before limping forward and diving in to the remains.

"We should go." Kili told her, shaking his head. This Elf girl had dangerous notions. They gathered their packs and kept climbing the hill at a brisk pace.

When they reached the top, Kili made a fire while Rhavaniel climbed through the treetops.

"I see it!" She called down. The sun was setting, so she climbed down to explain to Kili. "You can view it for yourself in the morning. I am afraid following the stream has taken us East, and if we continue to follow it, it will add many more days to our journey."

"We need to cut northwest, then. Here, the venison is ready."

Rhavaniel took a bite. "Ugh, it tastes as if I bit my tongue!"

Kili laughed at her, "Here's the tongue, it's the best part, after the brains. I hope you know you gave your pet the best part."

With her mouth still full, she asked, "How long must I chew this before it is safe to swallow?"

"I will trade an apple for your portion of venison." Kili said in jest.

Rhavaniel nodded, "Yes, please."

Kili sighed, "Tomorrow, I am going to have to teach you how to barter properly."

"Why exactly do you eat the brains of an animal?" Rhavaniel inquired, "Is it ceremonial?"

Kili laughed, "No, it is culinary! Put a slice of brain with pickles and onions between two thin slices of bread. Dip it in batter, and fry the entire assembly. It is served with mustard - a traditional Dwarf holiday breakfast."

"That sounds atrocious." Rhavaniel wrinkled her nose, "Traditional Elf holiday breakfast is a baked apple stuffed with nuts, dried berries, and honey."

"Dwarves eat the same thing for dessert! Except after it is baked, we dip it batter and fry it."

"Why would you do such a thing?"

"Frying holds everything together."


	17. Bedtime Stories

Kili prepared to spend another night camped by the stream. He struggled with the ridiculously long ties on the Elf bedroll. He was about to cut them off when Rhavaniel interceded.

"Here, let me show you what this is for."

She spotted some appropriately spaced trees, and climbed up with one length of rope.

"These are meant to be tied to trees, to keep you off the ground." She jumped to the nearby trees, and secured all four corners.

"It does take a bit of practice." she told him. "We Elves do this for ourselves from when we are little, so that we can nap without being underfoot. Jump up. I will steady you."

Kili threw up his weapons first, and Rhavaniel secured them on handy branches. Kili then climbed a tree and jumped across. The bedroll swung a bit, but Rhavaniel steadied them and he found his footing.

She secured him under the covers. "I do not want you to fall out. Elves do not thrash in their sleep the way you Dwarves do."

"I do not thrash!" Kili protested.

"Humor me, then." she smiled, "See, there are many Elf ways that can used by Dwarves with a little adjustment."

"Are you going to lie down for a while and pray or think or whatever it is that you Elves do?" Kili asked.

"We could talk until you fall asleep, and then I will stand watch." Rhavaniel suggested. Kili liked that idea.

"I am curious about something, if it is not too personal to ask." Kili started. "You say you are a very good liar?"

"Yes, I am. What do you want to know about that? Do you want to know if I have lied to you? I have not." Rhavaniel offered.

"No. I am curious as to how you got good at it. My brother and I lied plenty growing up, _'I don't know who cut Uncle Thorin's beard in his sleep.'_...' _The neighbor's rooster died of natural causes._ '... _'Fili started it._ '... but my mother never believed me. How did you master it?"

Rhavaniel laughed hard enough to make the bedroll sway a bit in the trees.

"I am serious." Kili told her, "This is a survival skill that I am lacking."

Rhavaniel composed herself before explaining, "You are a _boy_ , and as such, your lies are probably meant to cover _actions_ that have serious consequences. I pick lies about little things, that spare people's feelings. I say things they want to hear, because it makes their lives a bit easier. I do not feel particularly guilty about that, so guilt is not carried in my expression."

Kili had lied to Rhavaniel about his ultimate destination when they first met in the Woods. He certainly had not felt guilty at the time, because the lives of the entire Company depended on secrecy. But in the following days, as he grew to trust Rhavaniel, he feared his secret would become harder and harder to keep from her.

"When did you figure all of this out?" Kili asked.

"Hmmm." Rhavaniel thought about it, "I was sixteen. I was supposed to go for the next quarter-moon to the home of my eldest brother, Máfortion, and his wife, Melima. I walked in to the kitchen, where Melima was cooking a large batch of cakes with her sisters, daughters, and granddaughters. She turned, saw me and sighed ' _so soon?'_. I could tell that she wanted to take the words back. So, I laughed and said I came to get a nut cake because hers were the best and I was staying with a friend from school, as previously agreed. Melima was happy, and I got a whole nut cake to myself out of the lie. I wasn't lying about her cakes being the best. Seemed like a good idea at the time. Oh, and always mix some truth in with the lie. It helps."

"Seriously," Rhavaniel continued, "Was there not one lie that your mother believed?"

"When I was eight, my mother had a little girl. Her name was Isa. She was blond and blue eyed, just like Fili. Dwarf women are strong, but they start off very fragile. Isa got sick one winter when she was not yet two years old, and died. A year passed, and it was close to the time when Isa died. Fili was very sad about it. Mum comforted him, then asked if I was alright. I said I could not be sad because I had no memory of her. That was the only lie my mother ever believed - that I did not remember Isa."

"You were not lying to protect yourself - you were lying to protect your mother?" Rhavaniel asked.

"I wanted her to have one less thing to worry about." Kili nodded, "So I guess you are right. Maybe there is more to it, though. Maybe you have to _want_ the lie to be true for it to be believable?"


	18. Open Ground

Kili and Rhavaniel climbed high into the trees at dawn. Rhavaniel showed him what she had seen last night. Lonely Mountain was Northwest, across a plane of rocky grassland. The tree-lined stream they were following cut a switchback line far East, toward the rising sun, before snaking back to the Mountain.

"Following the stream will put us weeks behind the others." Kili determined.

Rhavaniel nodded. The choice was obvious, but she was nervous. She knew King Thranduil had forbidden his people from leaving the forest - her family and teachers reminded her of it frequently. It was supposed to be dangerous - even more dangerous than the dark and dying parts of Mirkwood. She had never seen grassland, had never lived away from the shelter of trees. Only rocks, brush, and some scrubby pines lay between them and Lonely Mountain.

"What about water?" she asked.

"We will take as much as we can carry. We will ration it, and find more, I am sure. Agreed?" Kili asked.

"Agreed. I will catch fish one last time for breakfast." Rhavaniel's worries abated. They had a plan and a purpose, and Kili was not concerned. She allowed herself to be curious about this next part of the journey.

After a pleasant breakfast, they broke camp and set out across the open ground. Rhavaniel was amazed at the endless grass growing taller than her knees. She took a few wistful glances back at the tree-line, and then kept her eyes on Kili for the rest of their march.

My mid-morning, a light rain began to fall.

Rhavaniel tilted her head back and opened her mouth to taste the rain.

Kili looked at her quizzically, "We still have water, you know."

"Yes," she replied, "but I love rain. I imagine I can taste where the clouds have been. Have they come down from the cold, Northern wastelands? Can I taste the Sea? Have they been dusted by spices from the East? The possibilities are endless."

Kili chuckled, "Do all Elves think in such fanciful ways? Because I can assure you, when a Dwarf sees rain, all he thinks about is that he is going to get wet."

Rhavaniel laughed, "We are not practical, as you Dwarves are. I have been told I am overly fanciful, even for an Elf. Here, Practical One, take my rain cloak. I do not want it."

She pulled an old Elf Guard rain cloak out of her pack. It was it dark blue and hooded. The Elvin material was far lighter in weight and more supple than anything a Dwarf would have owned, not that Kili had a rain cloak with him. She put it over him and Kili kissed her wet cheek.

"You are right." he said, "I _can_ taste it. This rain has been playing with Elves."


	19. Living Off the Land

"I know all of the edible and medicinal plants in Mirkwood, and most of those in the woods surrounding the lake, but I don't know anything about these open lands." Rhavaniel informed Kili.

"There's a good spot to look." Kili pointed.

They soon found wild leeks, and began to dig.

"I can put this in a stew with some of the venison, and I think you will finally like my cooking." Kili grinned.

Rhavaniel turned to a nearby plant with red stalk and yellow tufts. She rubbed the buds with her fingers, looking for familiarity in the scent.

"This grows in Mirkwood, but I have never seen it used."

"Mugwort." Kili told her, "Leave it. You can spice food with it, if you have nothing better, but mostly it's used to make a strong tea that kills parasites. We don't have any parasites, I promise. I cooked the meat through properly and everything else we've had has been clean and fresh."

"I did not know you were an herbalist." she said.

"I'm not. Not like Óin. But, every Dwarf knows a thing or two about cooking, and keeping healthy with what's handy. One time, when Fili and I were little, we lived a winter away from Blue Mountain. Bofur and Bifur and their near kin had agreed to sign up for stonecutting and blacksmith work in Rohan, and convinced quite a few of us to go along. They were building a grand new stable and needed all the skilled craftsman they could hire, even Dwarves. We thought there'd be good wages, and winter not as harsh as in Blue Mountain.

Not long after we Dwarrows got there, the Building Master decided to pay half our wages in food, and the food was bad. No grocer or butcher would sell to us, because they didn't want to get on the wrong side of the Building Master, or they were already in on the deal.

Snow had already come, so there was no trekking back. Our folk finished the job for half in gold and half in rotten cabbage and moldy bread. Mum had us all drink mugwort tea by the gallon so as not to get sick. We used to joke that's why Fili's so blond - mugwort started growing out of his head."

"I heard they had a good King in Rohan." Rhavaniel said quietly.

"As if a King knows the plight of the average blacksmith among his own people, let along the traveling labor. Did you ever have a chat with your King Thranduil about the outrageous cost of coal for the forge? I think not." Kili pointed out.  
"I imagined that if the King was wise and ruled well, the proof was that the cost of coal and bread was reasonable for all." she pondered.

"That's how Uncle Thorin would have had it in Blue Mountain, if he could have. You can't provide for your people while in exile, and that weighs on him. Once we're......if we're ever back at Erebor, and Uncle Thorin was King Under the Mountain, you would not have to imagine what a good King looks like.

But back to Rohan. Uncle Thorin was in a rage the whole winter. _'They feed the horses better than us._ ' he'd grumble.

The Building Master rode around on a big sorrel, nasty as he was. It bit Fili once. Uncle Thorin got the Building Master back good, though. A well fed horse is pretty tasty, and we were promised food." Kili stood up, having filled the small sack with leeks.

Rhavaniel was almost speechless. Almost. "I see you smiling. You are merely teasing me."

"No." Kili assured her, "I'm smiling because after all these years, it's still funny."


	20. History Lessons

Kili's curiosity got the better of his manners, "So, how old are you?"

"I am forty-eight." Rhavaniel replied.

Kili nodded, and Rhavaniel added, "You have no idea what that means, do you?"

"No." he confessed.

"Well, we Elves essentially stop growing by age fifty, so I still have nearly two years for a miracle."

"I noticed you were short..."

"I am still taller than you." she was quick to point out.

" _Barely._ "

Yes," Rhavaniel replied. "I know. I am Avari by birth, and we are a bit shorter and darker than Silvans, though that does not completely explain me. I am supposed to receive a letter when I am one hundred, left by my second parents. I used to beg to see that letter early. I thought it might answer my questions about my first parents. It didn't."

"Wait. What?"

"Oh," Rhavaniel replied, "I stole the letter and read it already. As if you could call that stealing - the letter was _mine_ after all."

Kili snickered. That was something a Dwarf would do and say.

"My second parents could not tell me anything because they did not _know_ what happened to my first parents." She explained, "A couple they met while visiting an Avari settlement said they needed to go on a quest, to seek answers to the Great Darkening of Mirkwood, and needed to leave their baby with someone for not more than three months. Fifteen months later, no one had heard from my first parents. My second parents delayed their planned exodus to the Undying Lands for yet another year for my sake alone, but no one came for me, and no one in the Avari settlement would speak a word about them. My second parents were so upset at the Avari tribe for not helping, they thought it best that I be raised Silvan.  
All of their children and grandchildren agreed to raise me as if I had been born to them. They have been very good to me. I have no complaints. But I am glad that I read the letter, because there should be a limit on how many years a soul should carry false hope, don't you agree?"

"I do agree." said Kili, thinking of the one hundred and seventy-one years his own people had been hoping for a return to Lonely Mountain. Their hopes would not be false any longer, if the Company of Thorin could all just reach the Mountain in time.

"Now, on my one hundredth birthday, I shall have to feign a look of surprise when I pretend to read it for the first time." Rhavaniel practiced several facial expressions in rapid succession for him.

Kili laughed at her, then asked, "Why one hundred?"

"An Elf is not considered a true adult until they are one hundred years old. That is when we are allowed to marry, join the Guard, or learn the greater mysteries of our people. I will be done with school when I am one hundred, for I already know I will be a blacksmith and arms maker and not a scribe or a healer. I could make you a decent sword now with the skills I have, but it would not be a true Elvin sword, that glowed in the presence of Orcs and Goblins. I will start to learn those skills, and earn a wage rather than my keep. I am looking forward to turning one hundred."

Kili smirked, "I think that was a long about way of saying you are still a baby Elf."

"And how old are you?" she quizzed him.

"I am seventy-seven." Kili replied

"And that means...?"

"It means I am grown up and done with school, for a start. Dwarves also do not marry before they are one hundred, if they marry at all. We live to be about two hundred and fifty if not taken by sickness or war. Uncle Thorin is ...hmm... one hundred and ninety-five now. A very good age. He is still a warrior in his prime and mature enough to be King."

Rhavaniel smiled, "You are very proud of your Uncle."

"Yes." Kili admitted, "I am proud to call him Uncle, and proud to call him my future King - something I am sure is rarely said of your King Thranduil."

"I am truly sorry that you and your Company were imprisoned in Mirkwood, but even a 'baby Elf' knows that a King must act in the best interests of his own people - which may be counter to the interests of others." Rhavaniel stated.

"A King's responsibility is to carry the honor of his tribe on his shoulders. When vows are broken and allies abandoned, the King diminishes himself and his people." Kili retorted.

"Have you thought of how diminished both of our tribes would have been if King Thranduil had led his entire Guard into a slaughter and Erebor was still lost?" she asked.

"We would not have lost Erebor if the Elves had kept their vows!" Kili shot back.  
"How can you profess to know potential outcomes of events one hundred and seventy-one years past? Neither of us was there." Rhavaniel was becoming less apologetic and more defensive with Kili.

"My Uncle Thorin was there, and Balin, and my mother. They know what happened. Every Dwarf of the Longbeards knows what happened. We grow up hearing it at home. We learn our history in school. What do they teach Elves in school - that King Thranduil was the voice of reason rather than the fleeing shadow of cowardice?"

"I have no idea! The Desolation of Smaug is not in my history book!" Rhavaniel fumed.

"It is only the most important event in the history of Dwarves - once a sworn ally - during the reign of your current King, and they do not even bother to teach of it in Elf school?" Kili yelled at her now.

"I told you, I skip a lot of school!" Rhavaniel yelled back at him.

"It is pointless to even converse with you on this subject! All Elves are willfully ignorant of their own transgressions! At least you come by your ignorance honestly!" Kili spat.

He pulled his hood up over his head and turned away from her. He picked up his pace, and he could tell that Rhavaniel had slowed hers, putting some distance between them. He wished that he had better control of his temper, because Rhavaniel had not earned his ire the way the rest of the Elves had. Kili believed what he said about King Thranduil and Elves in general but instantly regretted what he said about her personally. Those words were unkind, and unfair.


	21. Common Ground

Kili and Rhavaniel trudged silently throughout the rest of the day. They walked far apart, ostensibly to better scrounge for the dried branches they would need to start a fire that night. No words had been spoken since Kili's outburst earlier.

' _I should apologize_.' Kili told himself. He wondered if he could get away with apologizing to her personally (which he wanted to do) or if he would be expected to apologize to all Elf-kind. Fili had instructed him that if he ever got into an argument with a girl, he would be expected to apologize early and often, even for things he had not done or said. Kili was not sure he could sincerely take back the things he said about other Elves. What if his apology was not good enough, and escalated into yet another argument? Fili had warned him about those outcomes.

Kili looked ahead carefully for a place to camp. He chose a spot with several good-sized boulders for shelter from the wind, and a few short trees to remind Rhavaniel of home.

"Here!" Kili called over, and dropped his stack of kindling on a barren portion of ground.

Rhavaniel joined him and silently dropped her stack beside his, then retreated to what passed for a tree line.

' _I have waited too long to apologize_.' Kili thought. 'S _he will expect me to take back my words about King Thranduil himself at this point_.'

Kili started a fire, and set about making the stew he had promised. When it was done, he looked around for her, but she was gone. Her pack was still there.

"Rhavaniel!" he called out.

"Here." she called in reply.

He looked up. She sat midway in the tallest tree, which was not even twelve feet in height. She looked a bit like a giant sitting in a child's chair, and Kili could not help but laugh. "You look ridiculous!"

"Thank Ilúvatar there is no one I am trying to impress out here." she replied dryly.

Kili did not completely regret laughing at her, since this presented a chance to apologize for a lesser offense. "I am very, very sorry that I laughed. You must be uncomfortable. Please come down and eat with me." he offered.

"I am not hungry." she said, "You may save my portion for breakfast, thank you." Kili sighed. "Are you going to sleep up there?"

"I am not going to sleep, and this is the best vantage point we have for the night, so here I stay." Rhavaniel replied.

Kili ate alone in silence. He covered the remains of stew and put the last of the kindling on the fire to keep away the cold night air. He retreated to his bedroll on the ground and tried not to think of how much more upset Rhavaniel might be in the morning. He quickly fell asleep.

Kili dreamed a memory from childhood. He was with his entire family. Father was still alive. An Orc invasion had forced them to flee Blue Mountain's North Range for the South Range, and the only way to get there quickly was by taking a ship across the Gulf of Lune. Grown Dwarves, warriors, would have rather faced a hoard of Orcs that cross deep water. Dwarves could not swim. It was not for lack of strength, or will, but that they sank like rocks. Ever since they were little, Dwarflings had been warned to stay away from deep water.

Kili was scared, but his father held him close and said, "You will be safe. I would put you and your brother on my shoulders and walk across the bottom of the Gulf. You would not even be wet. I promise."

(***********************************)

Kili awoke at the break of dawn to a cacophony of birds. They truly had returned to Lonely Mountain, and their path was directly over Kili's head. He sat up and looked around. He had expected the campfire to be a few faint embers. Instead, it was a roaring blaze. He saw not less than twenty arrows in the ground, forming a wide circle around him. The victims appeared to be three or four field rats, one snake, some frogs, several giant grey slugs, and what might have once been an overly large cricket.

"Rhavaniel?" he called softly. She was not in her little tree perch. He jumped up on to a boulder to look for her.

He spotted her walking back to camp, arms loaded with more kindling. He sighed with relief and waved.

When he jumped down, she was coming around from the other side of the rocks. He ducked just in time to miss being hit in the head with the largest stick she was carrying.

"You slept through all of it!" she yelled.

Kili was taken aback. He looked around - at the fire and the arrows - and then he understood. This open ground was to Rhavaniel what deep water was to him. She had been frightened. He had told her to follow him across, and she did so because she trusted him. Instead of offering her comfort, he had yelled at her and left her alone with her fears.

Kili took the rest of the firewood out of her arms and placed it on the ground. Rhavaniel sniffed, eyes red from fighting back tears.

"I am sorry." He said, "Sorry I judged you. Sorry you were frightened." He put his arms around her and held her close. "We will be safe. I promise."

He believed it himself, and she believed him.


	22. Lightning

Their second day on open ground fared much better. Kili took the time to explain to Rhavaniel that the wildlife here was smaller, slower, and far less poisonous than their Mirkwood counterparts. They mended their misunderstandings and returned to a comfortable mutual trust.

The lands they now crossed had once been fertile farmland, and wild versions of former crops could still be found. Kili showed Rhavaniel how to identify bilberry bushes and petty-dwarf roots. Dwarves had taken these important plants with them into exile and cultivated them on Blue Mountain, but Rhavaniel had never seen them before. They ate the berries and filled sacks with roots to cook on the evening fire.

"We might even find a well, since there were farms through here." Kili said.

"What should we look for?" Rhavaniel asked.

"Foundation stones, or circles of stones to keep children and animals from falling into the well. The grass has become so tall here, it will be difficult to tell."

"I would have liked to have seen this when it was built up with Dwarf homes." Rhavaniel mused.

"Dwarrows didn't live here," Kili corrected her, "Men did. This was out land, but we preferred to live underground, in the Mountain. Men lived above ground, so they tended the farms and we traded with them. It worked out well for a long time."  
"Is that how things are with your neighbors in Blue Mountain?"

"Not so much." and Kili left it at that. "I think we might get a storm." and he pointed to ominous clouds rolling down from the North. "We should try to make it to those trees and take shelter."

They were both young and fit, and easily ran for several hours until they were able to reach the only decent patch of trees. It was late afternoon, and the wind had begun to howl.

They set up the bedroll, just a few feet off the ground, beneath the trees, and secured their packs. Winter was coming, and it would be cold that night but it was not safe to start a fire.

"We should try to collect the rain." Rhavaniel suggested.

"There won't be any." Kili replied. "It is a windstorm. There will be dry lightning. We will be safe under the trees, though."

"We are low on water. Perhaps I should run back to the river. I can run the rest of the day and all through the night, and I will be back to you by morning. I am not afraid." Rhavaniel eagerly offered.

"No." Kili said. "I have been assuring you that open ground is safe, and it mostly is. But in a lightning storm, it is the worst place to be. Lightning seeks metal - even the iron in Dwarf blood is enough to call it down."

"What if I left my weapons? I am not Dwarf - perhaps lightning will not seek me."

"That is just..." Kili was about to say reckless and completely foolhardy, but stopped. He realized how much that would sound like Fili's words. Fili had been the voice of reason, keeping Kili in line when he wanted to prove himself with some act of daring. Kili had been trying not to think of where Fili was, and how much he missed his older brother and feared for his safety. Rhavaniel looked at Kili as if he knew what he was doing - the way Kili had always looked at Fili. Now Kili wondered if Fili, a mere five years older, had been guessing as much as Kili was now.

Kili thought of what Fili would say. "We stay together. We're stronger together, and we will find water in the morning."

They drank sparingly, and ate the last of the apples they brought with them. Rhavaniel tenderly collected the cores and buried them on the southern side of the sheltering stand of trees. "So there might be apple trees, the next time Dwarves live in Erebor." she explained to Kili. He was touched by the gesture.

The wind began to howl in earnest, and they retreated to the bedroll, pulling the covers over their heads.

Rhavaniel asked, "How did you become an archer? We Elflings practically learn to walk by pulling ourselves up on our first toy bow, while it seems rare to find a Dwarf bowman."

"Dwarflings are usually short and surefooted." Kili explained, "They can swing anything without toppling over. I was all arms and legs. My father told me to stop thinking of that as a weakness, and make it a strength. He came back from a neighboring village with a small bow soon after, and taught me how to use it. I was better than any child and many grown Dwarves in no time, thanks to his patience. Not that I gave up on learning the sword. It just took me longer to learn. But I'm good now, even Dwalin says so, and he is not easy to please."

"Who taught you sword fighting?"

"Lots of different Dwarves, including Dwalin, but I would have to say that Fili is my favorite teacher. Did you know that Fili is already decreed a Master of two-sword fighting? He stopped taking lessons three years ago, and started _giving_ them to the younger Dwarves. It is unheard of for someone so young to teach."

"As much as I love the forge, you would think I would be a master at swordplay, but I am not." she confessed, "That requires a sparring partner, and boys my age consider me much too small to spar with."

"Could you not take lessons?"

Rhavaniel sighed, "Sword lessons are a privilege, and I must confess that I have lost that privilege more times than I can count."

"Then we will spar tomorrow." Kili assured her, "You will need to learn how to wield that sword properly, and soon."

He gestured to the Elf Guard sword, which they kept between them so that it might warn them of approaching Orcs.

"You have no clue what makes it glow?" Kili asked.

"Not for another fifty years." Rhavaniel pouted. "I have to prove myself worthy to be taught. It is not the steel, but the maker's magic. Magic must wait, I am told, until wisdom can take root and the light of a soul is certain to be pure."

"It seems like a long time to wait, but the caution does make sense. Magic is not a toy. Dwarves always say 'the heart is not a toy' to remind each other that we are not supposed to fall in love and marry before we are one hundred."

"You equate love with magic. I find that very poetic - not one bit practical." Rhavaniel teased him, "I don't know nearly enough about love or magic yet to challenge your philosophy."

"Keep it that way." Kili teased back. "You are too young to be casting spells or casting hearts."


	23. Schoolyard

Kili and Rhavaniel awoke hungry and thirsty, with a thick layer of dust and leaves on top of their bedroll.

The storm had passed, and the dawn sky appeared to be clear. They quickly gathered fallen branches to start a fire.

"We will roast the roots whole instead of boil them, to save water." Kili decided. "We will get off to a late start, but we should eat now. We may not have an opportunity later."

"And you will teach me to fight with sword?" Rhavaniel asked eagerly.

"Yes." Kili replied, "but first I must ask, have you been in many fights? By that I mean, have you hit another child, or been hit?"

"No, we all get along beautifully."

Kili shook his head in disbelief, "You are the only Avarin in a village of Silvan Elves, ruled by an inbred little pack of Sindar snobs, and you were never teased?"

"Of course I was teased. I am a short, tangle-haired child of the forge. They call me the Elf that Aulë built."

Kili was indignant, "And you never hit anyone for that insult?"

Rhavaniel laughed, "It was meant in good hearted jest. Can you tell me that description never crossed _your_ mind when looking at me?"

Kili had to admit, Rhavaniel was the most Dwarf-like Elf he had met, but she was still mostly incomprehensible to him.

"When someone insults a Dwarf, they have enough sense to fight over it, so that they will not be insulted _ever_ again." Kili informed her.

"Is fighting common among Dwarflings?" Rhavaniel asked. "Your people do seem rather...well... easily offended. Does that attitude start in childhood? Are girl Dwarves the same way?"

Kili had to admit, "Girl dwarves are worse, actually. They fight other girls. They fight boys, which is particularly unpleasant, because a boy will not hit a girl Dwarf back."

"Why would you not hit someone who hit you first?" Rhavaniel quizzed, " _That_ seems impractical."

Kili simply stated, "It is a matter of honor. Boys do not hit girls."

Rhavaniel frowned, "I have noticed that Dwarf practicality disappears when the rules of honor become involved. Your rules of honor are so complex, though, I cannot follow them. It does not seem very honorable of a Dwarf _girl_ to hit a _boy_ when she knows he will not hit her in return."

And now Rhavaniel had insulted all Dwarf girls. Kili closed his eyes and exhaled slowly. ' _She is trying to understand_.' he told himself. Now that he thought on it, he may have asked a very similar question of his Uncle Thorin when he was a boy.

"We will discuss honor at a later date, " Kili promised. "Back to fighting. Fights in the schoolyard served me well. They toughened me. Taught me how to hit, and how to be unafraid of being hit in return. Elves should learn to fight early - to get their hands dirty. You have been sheltered."

"Did you fight much as a child?"

"Daily." Kili said proudly.

"Daily?! That seems rather orcish. And how often did your brother Fili fight in school?"

"Also daily, until I did well enough on my own that no one picked fights with me."

Rhavaniel furrowed her brow, "This expression, 'pick fight' - they let you carry your pick axes in school? Was your school in a mine?"

"No, no, no. Just... just make a fist and try to hit me." Kili snapped.

Rhavaniel hesitated, then complied. Kili easily caught her fist in his hand and held it. "You were slow, and your eyes told me exactly where your fist was going to go. Your opponent is much, much stronger than you are. He can block your blows. You have to use your speed. Now, see if you can get your hand back."

Rhavaniel pulled back as hard as she could, but could not free herself.

"If I had grabbed your sword hand, I would have run you through by now. Think." Kili calmly told her. He suddenly released her hand, and she fell backwards. "And stay on your feet."

"I would do better fighting in trees." Rhavaniel grumbled, getting up.

"I am sure you would, but you will rarely have the luxury of picking - I mean, selecting - the battleground. Try again."

Rhavaniel continued to try heartily. Kili taught her to feign blows, break grips, and duck below punches. It was tiring and bruising, but they continued until breakfast was ready. When they sat down to eat, Rhavaniel kept her eyes downcast.

Kili asked gently, "Are you angry with me?"

"No! I am very grateful to you. I did not know that I was so ill prepared to defend myself. I am angry at myself, I suppose."

Kili's tone was encouraging, "You did very well, actually. I am trying to concentrate years worth of experience in a few hours, so don't be hard on yourself. We will discuss sword fighting while we walk, and spar at mid-day."

"So.....what were you supposed to do when a Dwarf girl hit you, since you could not hit her back? That seems terribly unfair."

"In truth, the girls never hit me, exactly. They would gang up on me, pin me down and kiss me because I had no beard on my cheeks. They thought it was funny."

Rhavaniel choked back a laugh. "Oh, I am sorry! I did not mean to ..."

"I can laugh about that part myself, now. My mother said I could not hit them, so I might as well kiss them back. I did not take her advice - I was too mortified. Fili was quite jealous, as I recall."

"What, your brother did not have the same problem at your age?"

"No," Kili told her. "Fili was always the perfect Dwarf. He had proper blond whiskers even as a baby. I looked different."

"I look different, too."

"Yes, but your kind of 'different' does not make people think you are weak."

"Oh, I did not mean to offend you."

"You did not. It is as I said, fighting made me strong. Either they were wrong about me from the start, or they were right about me but I fixed myself trying to prove them wrong."

"Those are very wise words. I had not thought of it before, but I realize I surrendered to my difference long ago. Maybe I should have fought it?"

"What do you mean?" Kili asked, "Your difference is not 'weak'. It is... 'rare' like a very precious jewel, if I had to chose a word for it. Why would you think to fight that?"

"Because 'alone' is the one word for my difference."


	24. Lessons Never End

Rhavaniel knew the techniques of fencing very well. Kili watched her demonstrate her skills while they walked. She was delightful to behold, like a dancer with her fluid movements, but Kili quickly realized that she had never truly tried to fight anyone before. She was all theory and no application. He would have to teach her some harsh lessons.

"We don't have practice swords," Kili said, "so tie the sword in the sheath, so that we do not cut each other."

Rhavaniel complied. "Are Dwarf boys allowed to _spar_ with Dwarf girls, at least? I mean, the girls who heed the call to fighting must practice, too."

"No, Dwarrowdams do not go to war. Well, there are a few legendary exceptions, but mostly they accept that they are too vital to the survival of our tribe to be risked in such a way. They train each other to better defend themselves and their children, of course, but they do not practice the art of making war. And they find us useless to spar with, since honor demands that we not hit them at all, not ever."

"Then I be the first female you have sparred with?"

"Yes," Kili replied, "First girl and first Elf." He was uncertain which fact would be more intimidating at this very moment.

Kili had to ignore ingrained beliefs of honor in order to teach Rhavaniel how to fight. That was merely the mental component of the problem. Kili realized how hard it would be for a Dwarf to instruct an Elf. Though they were essentially the same height, all similarities stopped there. In addition, the Elf Guard sword Rhavaniel wielded was too big for her.

 _'Make your weakness a strength.'_ his father would have said.

"You need to know that a real swordfight is not like sparring. A real fight is over in less than a minute, and is usually determined by who lands the first blow." Kili told her.

"You are smaller in weight than the smallest Orc we have seen, but also much faster. You must beat them with speed. You need to dart in, then jump away, run away if you must until you find your spot to turn and fight. If you have to block a blow, you are too close. Think about the distance between you and your opponent. If their sword is shorter than yours, they will try to get within your guard."

"Should I try to get within your guard?"

"Not yet! You are not ready, and you have the wrong sword. Just work on keeping away from me. Look for openings. Dart in for a quick blow and dart out. Do not overextend yourself."

They sparred and discussed strategy as they walked. The terrain continued to become rockier as they advanced toward Lonely Mountain. Kili was impressed by how well Rhavaniel kept her footing and never made the same mistake twice. She was able to tap him several times, more frequently as the practice progressed.

"Do you think I am ready to fight a girl Dwarf, at least?" Rhavaniel asked.

"Noooo, they are stronger and more vicious than any Orc." Kili replied slyly.

"What a shame." she smiled coyly, "I thought I might have to fight them all off for your attention once we reach the Iron Hills. But if I am doomed to lose...."

"What?" Kili's mind skipped a beat, briefly forgetting that Rhavaniel was unaware of his true final destination. He recovered quickly. "Why do you think would you have to fight Dwarrowdams?"

"You must be very popular with the lady Dwarves. You told me they adored you in school."

Kili laughed ruefully, "By the time I was old enough to want to kiss girls, they were only interested in boys with full beards!"

"Oh, that is terribly fickle!"

"I could not agree more."

"I must inform you that I am fickle, too. I want to switch from fighting lessons to hunting lessons." Rhavaniel pointed to a small herd of chamois on a distant slope.

"Good eyes." Kili grinned. "That will be worth the interruption."

Rhavaniel eagerly offered a plan. "I can circle around that outcropping, and startle them in your direction."

"As long as we are in sight of each other..." and she was gone before Kili could finish the sentence.

Kili quietly lowered his pack and drew his bow. He watched Rhavaniel running, low to the ground, also with her bow drawn. In a moment, she was a small speck, peeking up from the larger boulders. Sure enough, she had the herd moving in Kili's direction. They began to fan out. He carefully chose his target and shot. It was a clean kill.

Rhavaniel joined him on the craggy ground.

"There has to be water nearby for animals this size to thrive." she speculated, jumping up on to a rock, "I can smell it. I think it is close."

"You can smell water out here?" Kili looked at her quizzically. It should not have surprised him - she had already demonstrated that Elves had superior sight and hearing. She closed her eyes and nodded, inhaling deeply, her delicate ears eagerly twitching for the sound of running water. Kili thought he had never seen a creature as beautiful as her. He quickly thought of something else.

"Go look, then." Kili told her, "But stay close and stay sharp. I will do the butchering myself this time."

Rhavaniel took several long leaps onto rocks, to put the smell of butchered chamois behind her. She closed her eyes and breathed deep. She was right, water was nearby. She started running.

It was a little further away than she hoped, over half a league, but she found it. A trickle of water emerged from an underground spring and exited a crack between boulders. She drank - it was fresh and cold. She thanked Ilúvatar, and slowly filled her water skin.

(***********)

Kili looked up from the butchering. He thought he heard something approaching. He didn't think it Rhavaniel returning - he had taught her how to call a warning and listen for his in return. He admonished himself for letting her wander out of his sight - it was dangerous for both of them to do that. But he had suddenly felt....confused....and thought that time to himself would help the feeling pass.

He slowly reached for his bow, on the ground nearby. A black arrow intercepted his reach. He looked up, and found himself surrounded by Orcs.


	25. Black Speech

Kili saw the three small Orcs first. 'Snaga', they were called. It meant slave. Dwalin, who had been fighting Orcs since before Kili was born, was fluent in the Orcish tongue known as Black Speech. Dwalin had taught Fili and Kili a few phrases, something he had hoped the boys would never need to know. Kili knew that snaga were vicious, but not likely to think for themselves. He thought he stood a chance against them, until he saw three more Orcs. They were big - two tall Orcs, armed with bows, and their leader, a massive Orc on a mangy black Warg.

This was a much smaller hunting party than he and Rhavaniel had faced on Burnt Ridge. But he was still outnumbered six to one, and the element of surprise was all theirs.

Kili still had a knife in his hand, and he intended to go down fighting if they did not end him with arrows first. He wondered if he should take his chances throwing the knife. At least this would end quicker. Their leader seemed to be silently debating Kili's fate.

Kili realized that the lead Orc was staring at his arrows - his three-headed arrows with bright orange fletch - the same arrows that Kili had put in the back of the Orc leader at Burnt Ridge.

The Orc spoke, and Kili could make out some of it. He knew he was being called a filthy Dwarf. 'amal' meant 'where', and he heard 'lul gijak-ishi', a term Dwalin himself had used for 'Elf' many times - until Uncle Thorin found out what else it meant, and forbid Dwalin from using such language in front of his nephews.

Kili locked his eyes on the Orc leader. He would not call Rhavaniel's name, and he would not let his eyes betray her with a glance in her last direction.

The Orc leader smirked, and said more words that Kili did not understand. But Kili knew the last phrase - 'Amal shufar, at rrug' meant ' _Where there is a whip, there is a way_ '.

He knew they planned to take him alive.


	26. Tested

Rhavaniel ran back to share the good news of finding water.

She coo'd like a dove to alert Kili of her approach, because he had determined that her brown owl hoot was a disaster. When Kili did not hoot back at her, she slowed and raised her bow.

She took a cautious glance around the rocks where she had left Kili. To her amazement, she saw Vehiron standing with his back to her. His clothes were as torn and dirty as hers, but she could tell it was an Elf Guard uniform, and she knew his silhouette. He had also escaped Burnt Ridge, and by the grace of Ilúvatar had caught up with them!

"Vehiron!" she called, and lowered her bow.

He turned, and she realized with a sickening jolt that an Orc stood before her. But it _had_ been Vehiron - that was his face, now twisted and gray, staring at her with hatred. A few short days ago, this had been one of her own kind, willing to fight to the death to defend her. Before that, in the Woodland Realm, he had been the favorite father of any of her friends. She had been in his home for dinner. He had helped her and his son with astronomy, his best subject when he had been in school. He was often at the West Forge for Guard business, and never failed to make time to speak with her. Now, Vehiron was worse than dead.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Glennodad rise from the tall grass, a monstrosity of his former self, and covered in blood.

Rhavaniel recalled her grief at letting him slip away from her and into the hands of the Orcs at Burnt Ridge. At night, when Kili slept and Rhavaniel had endless hours to herself in the dark, her mind did not find peace, as she claimed. Her memories took her back to Burnt Ridge, and a thousand scenarios in which she had not lost Glennodad. Now, the only regret she would ever have was that she had not put an arrow through his heart and spared him whatever abominable acts did this to him.

Rhavaniel raised her bow, but what was left of Vehiron was too close to her and grabbed it. She did the only thing she could think of - she gave up her grip on the bow to take the arrow in both hands and shove it into Vehiron's chest.

He spit black blood and clawed at her, but she pulled away. Glennodad was approaching now, his broken leg had been braced straight. Rhavaniel turned and ran. She was faster than him now, at least. Where was Kili? She despaired that he must already be dead in that tall grass.

She fumbled to free her sword, since it had been peace-tied to the sheath during her sparring with Kili. Glennodad had a knife in his hand, she was sure, but did not know what other weapon he might have carried.

 _'An arrow would already be in my back if he had a bow handy.'_ she thought grimly.

She circled the rock formation, with the glowing sword drawn. If children's games were all she had for strategy, that is what she would use. She snuck up behind a limping Glennodad, and struck quickly as he awkwardly spun around to face her. She took off his head, with his own sword.

Kili was right. It was over in less than a minute, and the first blow determined the outcome. She did not feel the thrill of triumph or the relief of survival. She felt like a coward. She was a coward because she could not make herself walk over to the blood splattered tall grass and find Kili dead.


	27. Tested

The Orcs had taken Kili with brutal efficiency. Ronkûr ran him down with the Warg, and the three smaller Orcs were on him, beating him, before he could even get breath back in his lungs.

They stripped him of weapons, and his coat and boots to be certain nothing was hidden. They tied him, and dragged him to higher ground.

 _'They want to be sure she can hear me scream._ ' Kili knew.

Ronkûr put Kili on his knees, with hands tied in front of him. The Orc stank like rotten meat and sulfur. He brushed the stubble on Kili's face, 'foshnu Vok', calling him a baby Dwarf. Kili was not trying to understand the Orc any longer. He needed to concentrate on not making a sound, no matter what happened.

Even an Orc as unimaginative as Ronkûr knew that a young Dwarf and an even younger Elf traveling away from the homes of Elf and Man and toward the lair of Smaug were part of some greater scheme. A lost part, no doubt, but still a source of information. He should be taking the Dwarf back to his Master immediately for questioning. That is what Naur would have done - but Naur was a leader. Ronkûr was a thug who inherited a portion of Naur's band, and Ronkûr did not aspire to be anything other than a thug. That little she-Elf had put an arrow in his thigh at Burnt Ridge, and she would be his prize if he had to flay this Dwarf alive.

The first punch was to the jaw, and Kili's mouth filled with blood. The second punch was to the gut, and he spit out all of the blood and the contents of his stomach. The snaga Orcs cackled. They had been disappointed that they were not allowed to share in the chamois this Dwarf had just killed, but at least they were about to be entertained.

The big Orc put his hand on the back of Kili's neck and pushed his head down onto the rock. Kili heard the hiss of leather sailing through the air and realized the Orc truly did have a whip. The first strike tore through his shirt and his skin. The pain made Kili hiss out all the air in his lungs. Inhaling made the pain worse, and he could only take a small gasp of air. He hoped that by the grace of Mahal he would lose consciousness before he broke. Ronkûr was too skilled in interrogation to allow that to happen. He pulled Kili's head up, making it easier to breath.

The Orc did know Common Speech, and he switched to it now, "Call her."

Kili shook his head, no. The Orc pushed Kili's head down on the rock again. He was not going to stop after one blow this time.


	28. The End of Mercy

Ronkûr was growing impatient. Torture was usually an amusement for him - something he could enjoy for days on end with the right partner. But when torture was a means to an end, as it was now, he burned with frustration. He found himself sorely tempted to snap the stubborn Dwarf's neck and take his chances sniffing out the Elfling's trail before it grew colder. He doubted the tracking skills of his group, though. He had been given the worst snaga of the lot, a disobedient Warg, and the two badly broken new Uruk-Hai with which to prove himself. They had found Kili by chance, not by skill, and he knew it.

Ronkûr decided to think, which he hated, and use Common Speech, which he hated even more.

He pulled Kili's head up off the ground once more. 

"She abandon you." he hissed in Kili's ear. "Flower bloods do not fight. They promise Dwarf friendship, but they lie. They run."

Ronkûr twisted Kili around to face Lonely Mountain. "Elf stay home - Dwarf lose home. It is their way. You should curse her. Curse her loud, for your god to hear."

A curse did echo across the open ground, but it came from Ronkûr, not Kili. Rhavaniel's arrow pierced the back of his thick neck and exited the front of his throat. He dropped to his knees, gurgling blood. 

One snaga fell with an arrow to his head, and other shrieked with an arrow slicing his shoulder.

Rhavaniel reached the top of the outcropping and dropped her bow for her glowing sword. 

"Leave him be!" she commanded the two snaga left alive. They snarled at her and drew their own blades.

They had made a mistake taking their eyes off of Kili. He was able to grab the small utility ax that the dead snaga had stolen from him. He brought it down on the foot of the nearest Orc, slicing through flesh and bone, and crippling him.

The last Orc, already wounded, seeing that he was alone in this fight, turned and ran. Rhavaniel had not expecting that outcome and hesitated. She could not leave him alive to bring help. Mercy was a luxury she could no longer afford. She chased after him.

Kili cut the bonds on his hands with the ax. The Orc he had crippled was panicked and shrieking, unable to even think enough to bind off the wound and stop the loss of blood. Kili brought the ax down on the creature's head and silenced him.

All that was left alive on the outcrop was Kili, and a dying Ronkûr. The Orc still had the whip gripped in one hand, with the other hand on his throat. Kili stared at him. He put one foot on Ronkûr's chest to brace himself, grabbed the arrow with both hands, and slowly pulled the remains of the shaft through the Orc's neck. The arrow had been the only thing stopping the bleeding. Ronkûr was finished.


	29. Shelter

Rhavaniel returned to the outcrop, her clothes bloody from the execution of the last Orc. He had flailed and begged for mercy. Her inexperience prevented her from landing a clean blow that would have killed him quickly. It turned into a brutal ordeal that Rhavaniel hoped would never be repeated.

She ran to Kili, who was back on the ground, dizzy from blood loss. She offered him the water skin she was still carrying. 

"I thought you were dead." she sobbed.

Kili spit out the first mouthful of water, tainted with blood and bile. She helped him take another drink.

"Check." he managed to say. She knew what he meant. She visited all four bodies and cut their throats to be sure. She found Kili's boots on one of the small Orcs, and brought them back to him.

Rhavaniel was shocked at Kili's injuries, "We need to close these wounds." 

Kili nodded in agreement - he could feel blood running down his side.

"I will be straight back." she promised.

"Two more." Kili warned her.

"I know. I killed them first. They were...they are dead."

"Warg."

"A Warg? I did not see one. I will be careful."

She ran to retrieve their packs, grateful for the Elf Guard medicinal kit they had taken from the Watchtower. She opened the box and thanked Ilúvatar for the sealed strips of cloth, soaked in medicine and boiled tree sap. When allowed to dry over a wound, it served as a second skin. She would not have to use the curved needle and thread packed for the more serious injuries involving cut muscle tissue. She did not trust her sewing skills under normal circumstances, and her hands were still shaking.   
She gathered up Kili's knife, coat and bow, and the chamois meat that was intact - they still had to eat. She ran back to Kili.

After cleaning and carefully patching Kili's back, she helped him sit up and looked at his other injuries. His mouth had stopped bleeding, and he was keeping water down. 

Rhavaniel was anguished. She held Kili as close as she dared without touching his wounds, and whispered, "I am sorry." 

"Not your fault." he assured her. "The Warg?"

"No sign of it. I suspect it ran off to hunt chamois."

"We need to keep moving." he told her, struggling to put his boots on. He was deathly pale.

"I think there is an underground river. We should follow it for our best chance of being near water and more game."

Kili tried to shoulder his pack and she gently took it from him. "I can manage both. Let the dressing set properly. We will find shelter soon, and rest."

They walked slowly through the rough ground, with Rhavaniel leading the way. She knew water flowed below them. Within an hour, they found a cascade - a small waterfall where a portion of the underground river ran over surface rocks before sinking back into the depths of the ground. They stopped to rest there. Rhavaniel took off her blouse, stiffened with dried blood, and rinsed it. The stink of Orc blood on it was still choking her. Her chemise and leggings were equally filthy, but cleaning them would have to wait.

Rhavaniel spotted several stone cylinders near them. They were short - nearly covered in grass - and showed signs of caving in. 

"Are those wells?" she asked Kili.

He glanced at them, "No. They are smokestacks for a Dwarf home under this hill. The entrance must be nearby, unless it caved in ages ago."

Rhavaniel explored the ground around the smokestacks in widening circles while Kili rested. There were no weak spots, or signs of a former passage.

She walked back to the cascade and leaned against the rocks, disappointed. That is when she saw it - a hole in the largest rock, at the height of her waist. She reached in, and felt the lever. The rock was just a shell - a doorway. She pulled, and heard a click and a creak as the stone door began to move. She stopped, holding her breath. 

Kili pulled their last lantern from his pack, lit it, and drew his sword. He silently nodded his readiness to Rhavaniel.

They both had swords in hand when she pulled the stone door open.


	30. Haunted Hills

A blast of cold air greeted them when they opened the door. They could hear the sound of moving water, but nothing was visible in the blackness. The sword in Rhavaniel's hand did not glow - there were no Orcs or goblins hidden in there.

Kili hooted to see if anything moved in response. The sound echoed, then nothing, not so much as a scuttling rat. Kili cautiously raised the lantern to the entryway.

They saw an open floor of stone. It looked as though the walls had once been painted in a white and yellow diamond pattern, to brighten the place. An ancient oil lamp, covered in cobwebs, was on the right.

"Welcome." Kili nearly laughed with relief, pointing to Dwarf rune marks etched in the stones on the floor. He handed the lantern to Rhavaniel, then lifted the chimney on the oil lamp and lit it with the small flint that hung on the wall beside it. The lamp still had oil, and after a spitting, smoky start, it worked.

"Put your sword away and switch to knives." Kili said. "That will be better for close quarters."

Rhavaniel complied. They weren't sure they were safe yet.

They entered the doorway - the first Dwarf to do so in one hundred and seventy-one years, and the first Elf ever.

The rock roof was low, but not uncomfortably so. Once inside, they could see the underground river to the right. A rusted, wrought iron gate ran along the edge of the water.

"To keep the Dwarflings safe?" Rhavaniel asked. Kili nodded.

There appeared to be fine nets hanging from hooks. Rhavaniel touched one, and the ancient fibers crumbled. Disheveled tools, tables, and bins lay along the rock floor, running the length of the exposed river.

"Did Dwarves or Men live and work here?" Rhavaniel asked.

"Dwarves, by the look of the place." Kili said. "But it was rare for Dwarves to fish as a profession back in the glory days of Erebor. At least from what I was told. Cave fish aren't exactly a delicacy."

Another long tunnel appeared on the left, in the direction of the smokestacks.

"Living quarters." Kili pointed. They spotted more lamps and lit them as they moved down the hall. They passed a kitchen, an empty pantry, two small bedrooms, and a larger bedroom at the end of the tunnel. That was all.

Rhavaniel noticed that Kili was shaking. He needed rest and food, and it was freezing in this cave.

"Here," Rhavaniel took him by the arm. "Lie down."

Kili sat on the platform of the bed in the last room. The mattress and blankets were long gone, but there was a heating stove in the center of the room. Rhavaniel ran outside to get their packs, and with one last look outside, shut the door behind her.

When Rhavaniel came back, she helped Kili out of his bloody clothes, and wrapped him up in the bedroll. She collected broken pieces of wood from the entry, and started a fire to warm the last room.

She wondered if there was anything in the medical kit for Kili's pain. She regretted that she knew so little about medicine. There were wax vials of potions meant to be bitten open and the contents drunk, but she was not sure what each one was for. For those few that she did know, she was concerned at how a Dwarf might react.

Except she did recognize one word on a vial - Yavannah. This could be miruvor. It was supposed to come from the honey of Yavannah's undying flower. She had heard of it, but never seen it, certainly never tasted it. The honey mead was very rare, but it would restore strength.

' _Yavannah is wife of Aulë, who the Dwarves call their Maker, Mahal, so I will take that as a good sign._ ' she thought.

She turned to Kili, "I want you to drink this. It will make you feel better."

Kili did as she told him. Within moments, he could sense that the medicine was working. He was not so cold, and the pain subsided enough that he could lie down. He sighed, and drifted off to sleep.

Rhavaniel checked his wounds again, kicked off her little boots, and joined him under the covers to help keep him warm.


	31. Keeping House

Once Rhavaniel was sure Kili was asleep, and the room was warmed by the fire, she slipped out from under the covers and gathered all of his clothes and his boots. She made her way back to the entry way and opened the rusty gate to the river. The gate was intricately patterned with dwarf spirals, and had little bells attached, as if the parents wanted a warning that a Dwarfling had even touched them. She thought that this must have been a warm and safe home when occupied.

She could tell where Dwarves had washed their clothes. There was a smoothed pool that they had made, or nature made and they took advantage of. She began to wash Kili's clothes and realized his shirt was torn beyond repair. She could replace the back with material from the softest sack they were carrying, for she had needle and thread in her pack.

Rhavaniel took inventory of their supplies. At least they still had some good arrows. They had leeks, plenty of baked petty-dwarf roots, bilberries, some tea, and a large shank of chamois. She felt around in Kili's pack of Watchtower supplies and discovered a rolled up Elf Guard undershirt. It was too small for Kili, but she gratefully took it so that she could change out of her own dirty clothes. She took a quick plunge in the cold river and used a sack as a towel. She would have to warm water on the stove for Kili to wash up when he woke. He would not be able to tolerate the cold the way she could.

She broke apart more wood bins and starting a fire in the kitchen stove. After a quick wash in the river, the old kettles were suitable for boiling water. She also found pots and pans, and soap which miraculously had not gone rancid over time.

Rhavaniel checked on Kili frequently, and he was sleeping soundly each time. She washed her own clothes, and hung everything to dry in the warm back bedroom with Kili.

She had a large vial of pine nut oil in her own pack that she used for everything from polishing wood to treating her unruly hair. It was perfectly good for cooking, and she used it to cook chunks of chamois, and then added leeks and slices of baked root. She covered the dish and put it on the table, so that it would not be overdone.

She reckoned it must be near dark, and took one last look outside. The sun was setting and the shadow of Lonely Mountain was long. She realized the shadow nearly reached them at this time of dwindling day. They might be close to Kili's rendezvous point with his Uncle and brother! Kili had been vague on the time of day. She would have to ask him about that when he awoke, and give him the exciting news that they might be close.

Once inside for the night, Rhavaniel cut out a piece of cloth for Kili's one shirt and began to sew. Her stitching was sturdy and fast, and she was done quickly. She carried the blue hooded shirt down the hall and also hung it in the room where Kili slept. On her way back to the kitchen, with all possible chores done, she stopped to look in the other rooms.

The pantry had been emptied of all but several large crocks on the bottom shelf.

 _'Too large to carry.'_ she surmised. She opened one and was nearly knocked over by the stench of centuries-old pickled something. She was loath to open the rest, but had to try. She was rewarded with a well-sealed crock of honey. The immortal food, honey could last hundreds of years. She grabbed that crock and carried it into the kitchen.

The next bedroom had been stripped near bare, and looked like two small children had shared it based on the twin bed frames. The room had once been painted a cheerful blue with white stars on the ceiling. Broken toys, loose pages of paper, and a few books were abandoned in a corner.

The last bedroom was a girl's, and it looked as though nothing had been removed. A mirror hung on the wall. The dresser had brush, comb, and numerous faded ribbons and colorful pins. The Dwarf girl's dusty, faded clothes hung from hooks. The bedspread had been nearly consumed by rats and moths over the years, but Rhavaniel could make out a pattern of quilted flowers. There was a doll on the bed - a carved wood head, hands and feet that were still attached to a stuffed cloth body. The doll was in better shape that the quilt, but still looked as though it would crumble at Rhavaniel's touch. It seemed to her that the person who lived here was her age - no longer a child but not fully abandoning childhood. Why had none of her things been taken? Had she died in the attack of Smaug? Had she been unable to reach her home before she was swept up in the crush of refugees, and forced to flee with only the clothes on her back? Had she been so confident that she would be back soon that she left everything behind? She'd be an old woman now, if still alive and exiled in Blue Mountain. Did she still dream about this room?

Kili had been angry that Elf history books did not mention the destruction of Erebor. Standing here, Rhavaniel knew that a book could never do justice to the sense of loss, and how terrible it must have been to leave this home with only what they could carry.


	32. A Proper Meal

Rhavaniel could hear Kili stirring in the back room. She ran down the hall to check on him, and turned up the lamp. "Kili?"

Kili was disoriented. He tried to speak to Rhavaniel, but his throat was parched. She handed him a mug of tea sweetened with honey. That was the last thing he expected, making him wonder if he was having some long and elaborate dream while back at Blue Mountain.

After a few gulps, he was able to speak. "How long have I been asleep?"

"Perhaps eight hours." Rhavaniel said. "It is after dark now. You should try to eat, and then sleep through the night. Do you want to eat here, or in the kitchen?"

Kili was hungry, now that he thought of it, and in much less pain than before. The miruvor had worked remarkably well.

"To the kitchen, since we are being so civilized." he said. He got up and realized he was not dressed.

"Your clothes are on the hooks. I think they are dry by now." Rhavaniel had discreetly turned away.

"Thank you."

Kili noticed the mended shirt. _'She is such a thoughtful girl.'_

She had been unfailingly kind to him from the moment they met. He had not expected to find kindness in an Elf. Was she really such a rare thing among her people? Perhaps Elf children are naturally good of heart and they turned harsh to outsiders as they grew older.

He dressed quickly and followed Rhavaniel out of the bedroom.

Kili had barely noticed the kitchen on his way in - barely noticed anything in his weakened state. Rhavaniel had dusted and cleaned, and set the table. There was a pan of warm meat and roots on the table, and a pot of tea on the stove. Bilberries and honey were stewing in a small pot. It looked remarkably like a typical Dwarf kitchen in Blue Mountain, except that the place was colorless and quiet. Dwarves liked to brightly paint and decorate their interiors. This kitchen had faded with time. Back in Blue Mountain where they lived so many to quarters, large central kitchens were sometimes shared by several families, and were always buzzing with activity.

"Honey?" He asked, looking at the lettering on the crock.

"Yes," she smiled, "and it is delicious."

Kili ate heartily. "This is good. It is exactly as my mother would have made it. She would like you very much."

Kili caught himself too late in his words. In Dwarf culture, telling a girl that his mother would like her carried great significance. What possessed him to say such a thing? If Uncle Thorin had heard that, he would have snatched up the hot frying pan and beaten Kili over the head with it. Fortunately, Rhavaniel merely smiled and took it as a simple compliment.

Rhavaniel ate with him, but true to her Elfin nature, ate much less and only the vegetables.

 _'She is kind-hearted, and pretty.'_ Kili thought. ' _Frighteningly thin, but that can't be helped - she is an Elf, after all. Any Dwarf would like her once they got to know her.'_

"There is soap and warm water in a tub by the river." She told him. "In case you want to wash up before going back to sleep. That will give me time to prepare dessert."

"Good idea." Kili said as he finished his plate.

"When you are in the entry way, please see if there are locks on that door. I did not discern any, but perhaps there are other ways to secure it?" Rhavaniel asked.

Kili walked out to the front of the home. These Dwarves must have felt safe, for there was no locking mechanism for this door. Perhaps they thought the camouflage was enough. It wasn't enough for Kili. He found a short piece of iron rod on a bench, and slid it into the level so that no one could open the door from the outside.

He saw that Rhavaniel had industriously broken down and stacked wood for them to burn.

 _'She certainly kept herself as busy as a Dwarf.'_ he thought.

It was noticeable colder in the entry way than in the kitchen. He saw the soap, warm water in a copper tub, and sacks emptied out to use as towels. He gratefully washed up as best he could while keeping his bandages dry.

He dressed and returned to the kitchen with the wet towels, and hung them to dry. Rhavaniel had made a pastry of mashed roots, oil and water, then stuffed it with sweetened bilberries and baked it. The result was surprisingly good.

"We have to do something about your hair." Rhavaniel said, and sat beside him on the kitchen bench to comb it out.

"No! I will get it!" Kili protested. That was an activity only family did for each other.

"Except you might tear the seals on you back. You need to stay still a day and night, if possible." she told him.

"You Elves do not respect the bounds of personal space, that is certain." Kili grumbled, still mortified that he woke up undressed.

She did get the knots out quickly, and tied his freshly washed hair back with his one silver clip, the way he liked it.

"Shall I braid it?" She offered.

"No!" Kili insisted, "I won't have you dressing me up like an Elf." he gave her a soft smile though. "But thank you."

"Oh, I had one last thing to ask you before you go back to bed." Rhavaniel pulled out a book. "I found it in one of the bedrooms. I thought you might be able to tell me who owned it, or how old they were?"

Kili was touched that she cared. When he looked at the book, he realized it was a child's primer.

"It is a schoolbook." he told her thoughtfully. "The owner was just a little boy. He wrote his name inside."

"What was his name?"

Rhavaniel did not realize what she was asking. Dwarves rarely shared their spoken language with outsiders, and certainly never shared the written word. Kili had slipped gravely when he pointed out the runes for 'welcome' in Khuzdul. Kili figured that there was no harm in a few words, it seemed wrong to refuse such a small request after all she had done for him this day.

"Alfri. He was fifteen when he wrote that, just starting school." Kili told her. "I should rest. We will want to get moving again in the morning."


	33. Stalked

Rhavaniel could tell that dawn was approaching. Kili was still asleep, but would be awake soon. She had prepared more of last night's fare for breakfast, but the food was running low again. She decided to look outside, for more roots and berries.

The sunrise was beautiful. She hopped up onto the boulders of the cascade with a mug of tea and honey to better enjoy it. Her peaceful morning was disturbed by the sight of circling scavenger birds to the south. The birds were a giant arrow in the sky pointing to the Orc carnage of yesterday. The fight had been far too close to the Dwarf house for comfort.

Rhavaniel ran inside and jotted a note to Kili. She took up her sword and bow and headed out to investigate. Instead of following their footsteps from yesterday, she followed the underground river. It was a rougher path, but straighter and faster since she did not have an injured Kili with her.

She noticed how fragile the ground over the river was in some places. There must have been wells, or Man-made entries to pump water for irrigation. The land was overgrown, but looked like it had once been organized in cultivated sections.

Suddenly, she felt the ground yield beneath her and creak. A wooden bridge had been built over an opening in the underground river. She would have to be more careful - even her modest weight might be enough to crash through some sections.

She continued her hike towards the birds until she spotted it - a Warg apparently eating the remain of the Orcs she and Kili had fought.

' _That must be the Warg that Kili saw.'_ she realized, ' _Not sentimental about eating its master.'_

Rhavaniel had been low in the grass, but she saw the Warg tense, and stare in her direction. It had spotted her. Not her, exactly, but it had spotted grass not moving in the breeze that should have been moving. In a flash, the Warg disappeared from her sight. Rhavaniel froze, unable to tell where it had gone. How could something that large disappear? It must be behind the rocky outcropping, but she had the dreaded sense of something creeping closer.

She looked around, but could see nothing out of place. She could not smell it, either, it was downwind of her. She tried to remain calm, but it was hard to do. One would think it would be easier to spot things on open ground than the forest, but it was not so. She had no sense of how things hid here, or what were normal sounds, the way she did in the forest. She could not run up, always the safest direction for Elves.

Plagued with uncertainty and doubt, she broke cover and ran. It was a terrible choice. The Warg broke cover and ran after her. She could hear it behind her. She had no place to hide, and though she knew she was faster, she had no idea how long a Warg could run. If she ran back to the house under the hill with only one exit, they could be pinned down indefinitely with no food.

She had once slim chance. Rhavaniel ran for the rotting bridge. She jumped over it and stopped, turned, and drew her sword. The Warg caught up to her. It slid to a halt on top of the bridge, and crashed through with a yelp. It tried to drag itself up by its front feet, but the aged wood disintegrated and splintered. The river was very narrow in this portion, and the water was moving fast.

Rhavaniel cautiously approached. She looked into the Warg's eyes. There was no plea in them, only rage. She smashed the last bit of wood with her sword, and the Warg fell through completely, to be swept away in the rushing water.

Rhavaniel returned to the house in the hills, badly shaken but unhurt. She would have to go out again, and do something about the Orc corpses, but she needed to calm herself first.


	34. Unpleasant Surprises

Kili awoke and was welcomed with the smell of breakfast cooking. He walked down the hall to join Rhavaniel in the kitchen.

"I found the Warg you warned me about." she greeted him, pushing a plate in his direction. "I think it is dead now."

"You...what did you say?" Kili muttered. "Did you go outside without me? You should not do that!"

"I left you a note." Rhavaniel replied. She pointed to the paper on the table. She had used a blank page from a Dwarf book. The note was in Common Speech, but with the equivalent Dwarf runes written beneath most of the words.

"You ...you learned to read Khuzdul overnight?" Kili sputtered, "I only taught you three words!"

"Four words." she replied. "You forgot about honey."

"You told me you were slow!" Kili said with accusation in his tone.

"The book had pictures! How slow do you take me for?" Rhavaniel fired back.

Kili looked closely, and the primer was indeed heavily illustrated and lovingly hand tinted. It was actually a beautiful antique, better than any book he had at school.

"Khuzdul is elegant in its simplicity, and the primer was very straightforward. It was easy to decipher after that, and I had nothing else to do all night. I do not know how to _pronounce_ anything, though. Perhaps you can teach me?" Rhavaniel asked eagerly.

"Skita!" Kili groaned, dropping his head into his hands. "Perhaps I can be disowned and shunned by my own kind in this life and the next?"

"What is 'skita'?" Rhavaniel asked with her typical innocent enthusiasm, "Where is that in the primer?"

Kili looked up from the table. "Breakfast can wait. We are going to check on this Warg you killed."

Kili hated being weak from his injuries. It had cost them precious time and now, left unsupervised, the Elf had run amok.

They left the house together, fully armed.

Rhavaniel explained her concern that the carrion birds would give away their location.

"That was smart." Kili told her, "Smart to think of it, but foolish to go out alone."

Rhavaniel showed Kili where the Warg went into the river. They tossed down a few bits of wood, and saw them rapidly disappear.

"He certainly could not have swum upstream from here." Kili said.

"Does not mean he won't pop out downstream, if he did not drown first."

"You were lucky." Kili told her sternly. Rhavaniel nodded. She knew she had been lucky that the bridge collapsed, and lucky that the Orcs they encountered had tried to take her as a prisoner rather than kill her on sight. She knew she was not nearly strong enough or smart enough to meet all of the dangers of Middle-earth yet, but she was learning.

They continued on to the Orc corpses. The Warg had done a good job, but they still needed to drag the torn remains to the hole in the river bridge to be sure. They had to keep the birds away.

It was still morning when they headed back to the house under the hill. Kili was exhausted and pale, and angry with himself at being weak. Another fierce storm was rolling in. They would not be traveling this day, Kili sighed, even if he had been stronger.  
They ate a quick brunch. Rhavaniel and Kili went outside together to gather roots and berries near the house before the wind began to howl and the threat of lightning forced them back inside. They stayed busy, cleaning and preparing the food. Kili did his own inventory of their supplies, and put together fishing lines which he tossed in the river.

"Are you still angry with me?" Rhavaniel asked him over dinner.

"No, I am 'mad at myself', as you would say." Kili told her. "We _have_ to move in the morning, no matter what."

"We will." she promised.


	35. Goodnight Kiss

Rhavaniel fed the fires in the kitchen and the back bedroom, then sat beside Kili on the bed, brushing her hair. She had taken one last bath in the river.

"I will miss this place." she sighed, resting her head on his shoulder. "I know I am being fanciful, but it felt like home."

"It was also practical." said Kili, "This is the best shelter we have had."

Rhavaniel handed him the last vial of miruvor.

Kili shook his head, "No, we should save this for another dire circumstance."

"Kili," she said, "Do you want to be well enough to leave here tomorrow? Then take this. Let us have faith that the worst is behind us."

He nodded in agreement, and drank the last vial.

"Oh, what does it taste like?" she almost forgot to ask.

Kili realized that much like seeing Rivendell, he had experienced parts of Elf culture than Rhavaniel had not. Rather than explain it with inadequate words, he surprised them both by kissing her on the lips. Rhavaniel kissed him back.

"What did it taste like?" Kili asked.

Rhavaniel searched for words, "The first taste was honey, and oat, and a flower I can only imagine. The second taste was much better, and that was you."

"What do I taste like, then?"

Rhavaniel blushed, "May I kiss you again?"

Kili smiled at her, "Yes."

She slid on to his lap to face him, kissed him, and sighed. "Like things I never knew I was missing."

She put her arms around his neck and kissed him again.

She was darker skinned that any Elf Kili had seen before. They had all seemed so deathly pale to him, but not her. Her skin reminded him of when he was a boy, and had discovered a nest of swan eggs. They were a light golden brown, warm, and perfectly smooth. The voice in the back of his head said the same words then as now - _It is fragile, you must leave it be_.

Kili pulled back, "Stop."

"Have I offended you?" she asked anxiously.

"No," Kili assured her, "I just.....Dwarves are not casual, about kissing."

"Neither are Elves." she countered, "I understand - maybe you do not feel the same way about me that I feel about you. I should go, and let you sleep."

She moved to get up but Kili put his arms around her. "No. Stay."

"We can talk until you fall asleep."

"I like when we do that." Kili acknowledged.

She put her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. "If I were to make sense of myself, I would say that my playmates were right. That I truly am an Elf that Aulë built. No burden of past wrongs between Elf and Dwarf apply to me. No rules of Elf behavior bind me. I can find my way in the world as I choose...make friends wherever I can, learn new languages, and take my heart to different places."

Kili stroked her hair, "Don't ever be reckless with your heart. You should only choose to love your own kind, someone who understands you."

"Sometimes I think I have no other kind, but it would not matter if I did. Do you really believe we choose who we love?" she asked.

"No, we don't choose." Kili admitted. He was not sure how long he had been trying to guard his own heart from her. He did not want to feel this way about an Elf, or about any girl, really. He was so young, love seemed a dangerous prospect for him. She was even younger. She shouldn't be thinking what he was thinking...was she?

Rhavaniel kissed him on the neck, and moved up to his cheek, planting light kisses along the way. This didn't feel like the carefree kisses of playgrounds.

Kili searched his mind for any other practical point he could grasp. "You are immortal. Someone like me would be gone from your life so soon....."

She opened her eyes and pulled her head back to face him. "I was orphaned twice by the time I was three years old. Being Elf does not spare us from broken-heartedness. I could love nothing ever again and be safe until the end of time, or I could take every chance at love. I prefer the second option. What do you think?"

"I think you are a bad influence on me." he smiled.

"Oh, that is very true." she laughed. "I think you are upset that I am already much better than you are at serious kissing. You Dwarves are very competitive, I have noticed."

She kissed his ears next.

" _You_ do not understand Dwarves." he chided her gently, "We are taught to be respectful of girls - that means letting the _girl_ decided what she will or will not share with you."

Rhavaniel pondered this new information about the rules. "The girl must decide first. But if you did not care for the girl, you would say 'no'?"

"Of course." Kili said, "That is only right. She deserves to know if her feelings are shared."

"If I offered you my heart, would you say 'no', or would you accept it?"

"I won't make a promise I cannot keep."

"I did not ask you to keep it safe, I only asked if you wanted my heart here and now."

"Yes." He could not bring himself to say no.

Rhavaniel thought for a moment, then wordlessly pulled off her nightshirt. The soft fabric brushed the length of her dark hair before it fell to the floor. She took Kili's hand in hers, and placed it over her beating heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is no smut in the next chapter. None at all. Nope, not going to do it.


	36. Bells in the Night

Rhavaniel was curled up comfortably asleep in Kili's arms. She dreamed she heard bells, like the toy carillon she and her grand-niece often played with years ago. She heard the bells again, only clearer this time, cutting through her dream.

She bolted upright in the bed. The bells on the river gate!

She jumped up, and slipped on her nightshirt. She grabbed her sword and approached the bedroom door.

Her bare feet felt it in the dark - water trickling underneath the door.

She gasped and grabbed her sword tighter. The sword did not glow. This was not Orc or goblin. She told herself she was being a silly child, it was only rats. The smell of fresh food and cooking had drawn them to the house, was all. Kili was sound asleep behind her. She did not want to wake him, not for rats, not when he needed to be strong and rested in the morning.

She opened the door slowly. Nothing moved. There was a trail of water down the hall. She followed it, checking every room. Nothing had been moved as far as she could see. The rest of the floors were dry, even in the kitchen.

Rhavaniel made her way to the dark entry, and turned up the wick on the nearest lamp. The gate to the river was open. Something had come in - something too short to step over the gate, but clever enough to open a latch.

Her lamp caught a reflection near the edge of the water. She picked it up. It was a single moonstone, round and perfectly smooth, with a brilliant blue glow. She put it in her scabbard.

She could hear something in the dark. It was not the ominous rustle of night creatures, but the entrancing hum of a lullaby. She stepped into the river, and followed the sound upstream.


	37. Emergency Exit

Kili woke up alone. He had expected to wake up with Rhavaniel by his side. He wondered if he would ever get used to the fact that this beloved creature, who needed so little sleep, led an entire other life at night.

' _There will always be some surprise with her._ ' he mused. ' _Let us hope it is a good one today._ '

Kili rose from the bed. The miruvor had been nothing short of miraculous. His bruises were fading, and his back no longer burned with pain.

He thought it should be nearly dawn. It was hard to get a sense of time in this place. The openings to the ground above, to let in light, had been buried long ago. He dressed and walked down the hall.

Rhavaniel was not in the kitchen, where he expected her to be. There was no note, and the fire in the stove was out. This was not like her. Even when she was in some mischief, she saw to it that their most basic needs were met.

"Rhavaniel!" he called. He heard nothing but an echo.

 _'She has probably gone outside to watch the sunrise._ ' he sighed. He gathered his weapons and headed to the entry.

Kili opened the door to find a snarling Warg awaiting him. He slammed the door shut just in time, needing all of his strength after the Warg charged at the opening.

"Rhavaniel!" he called again. "Rhavi, please be in here!" He did not want to think of the alternative.

The beast was clawing and digging at the stone door. Though only a shell of stone, it could not be broken by claws alone. The ground below was another matter. Kili could see the door shake, and began to see light from underneath as the Warg dug more and more earth away.

Kili ran to the back bedroom. He shoveled hot coals into the ash bucket, and carried them to the entry. He dumped the coals in the growing hole beneath the door, causing the Warg to burn its paws and howl in protest. After a brief pause, the Warg started digging again, only higher. Dirt began to fall from the ceiling.

Kili loaded his bow. As soon as the beast dug a hole big enough for an arrow, Kili would be ready.

The tap on Kili's shoulder made him jump and spin around. It was Rhavaniel, soaking wet and dressed in just her nightshirt. Kili was so relieved to see her, he could not bear to say the words he was thinking, ' _Don't sneak up on me like that!'_ He wrapped his arms around her instead.

Rhavaniel quickly assessed the situation, "There is another way out of here!"

Kili stood ready at the entry in case the Warg broke through, while Rhavaniel ran down the hall to collect their packs, bedroll, clothes and food from the kitchen. She deposited it all by the river.

"That is everything but the fishing lines." She said. "Take off your boots."

"Leave the lines." Kili told her, and threw his boots into his pack. Rhavaniel led Kili upstream, through the shallow part of the underground river.


	38. The Mere

"I woke up and you were gone!" Kili snapped, more hurt than angry.

"I know, and I am sorry." Rhavaniel turned to him as they splashed through the shallow water."I should have awoken you. Something was in the house last night, and I followed it. I did not mean to. I swear I was not being irresponsible. It was as if I had no will of my own. I kept following the sound. I still do not know what made it, but I found another way out."

"Not that way." She said, as they encountered a split in the river. "There are markers, once you know where to look." She pointed to bits of moonstone embedded in the rock on the left passage, which caught the reflection of their lantern.

The cave ceiling became much lower in parts, and they had to hunch over. Rhavaniel hated this but Kili, who was used to mines, was comfortable here as long as the water was shallow. The water was higher and faster in some parts, but never above their waist through the whole journey. There were several places where they could barely squeeze through, and Kili had to take off his pack and hand it to Rhavaniel. At least this meant the Warg would not be able to follow them.

They reached a large underground pool, and Rhavaniel pointed up to an opening. This was the inlet to the underground river, and the source of the fish. They could see daylight though the water.

"It is a short way, and shallow on the other end." Rhavaniel told him. "You will not have to swim, I promise."

Rhavaniel placed her lantern on a rock. She wrapped first one pack, then the other, in the rain cloak and carried them up through the water. When she returned, she put the cloak over Kili. "Take my hand."

They exited the cave into a mere. The water was shallow at that point, and rock steps led them out of the water and onto the banks. Kili gratefully flopped down in the grass.

"Do you think the Dwarves who lived in the house knew about this place?" Rhavaniel asked him.

Kili considered it, "I think so. It looks as though Dwarves built those steps."

"Yes, but they did not build that." and she pointed to the magnificent alabaster and marble statue in the middle of the mere.


	39. Bait

Kili searched the pack for his boots. His clothes were mostly dry. Even his coat had survived the journey in the pack without getting wet.

"You should get dressed." he told Rhavaniel, who was wringing water out of her long black braid. She nodded and began to pull off her nightshirt.

"No!" Kili told her.

Rhavaniel was amused by his reaction. Dwarves were so modest, at least in the company of girls.

"Firstly, there is no private place to change and secondly, you have already seen me naked."

"Does not matter." Kili replied. He handed her dry clothes, and wrapped his heavy coat over her shoulders, keeping it closed at the neck.

Rhavaniel managed to get dressed under the coat with minimal squirming.

"Are you hungry?" She asked.

"Starving." Kili replied "But we are not starting a fire. We can eat cold leftovers and keep moving." More gently he asked. "You are well, fit to walk?"

Rhavaniel blushed, "I am fine. You may get the leftovers out of the pack. I want to take a closer look at that statue."

"You are not swimming in that water! There is no telling what is in there." Kili cautioned.

The mere was hardly more than a pond at this time of year, filled with reeds and duckweed. The northern part of the water was slowly swirling, dark, and densely overgrown, while the southern portion of the mere that fed the underground river was clean and clear.

"I will not have to swim." Rhavaniel said, and made a running leap from the shore to the statue before Kili could stop her.

"Rhavi, get back here!" Kili called. He was not comfortable around this water. It was not fear of the depth - something about it seemed _wrong_.

He filled the water skins from the clear part of the stream and called out to her. "All the water will be brackish above these reeds, they filter out the poisons."

Rhavaniel called back, "Aye, we'll take all the clean water we can carry."

She pulled aside the vines and weeds around the statue and revealed a handsome King from the tribe of Man, with his arms around a beautiful Elf woman, who gazed up into his eyes with an expression of profound love. The King must have been very tall, for he was a head taller than the she-Elf. The details in the statue were beautiful. The Elf woman's crown was embedded with moonstones. Her King's embrace joined hands with hers as they cradled a bird of onyx. The woman's hands were beneath the black bird, but the King's hands cradled them both, and Rhavaniel could see an Elvish inscription on his ring.

Unwittingly, the thick vines and duckweed that Rhavaniel had torn down to reveal this beauty had created a floating bridge from the dark and reedy part of the mere to the base of the statue. She did not see the glistening, blood-black limb reach out from the murk and pull itself along the bed of weeds.

Rhavaniel ran her hands over the carving of ferns at the base of the statue, and up onto the leaf-patterned dress of the Elf beauty's skirt. The ferns ended entwined with the carved curls of the woman's hair.

Rhavaniel turned her attention back to the base of the statue. She could make out only a bit of the High Elvish inscription, and scolded herself that she had not studied this subject with more diligence.  
"Some of this inscription is newer..."

Kili shouted a warning, "Rhavi!"

Rhavaniel felt something grasp her foot. She jumped without thinking, but her other foot caught on vines and she tripped, falling into the water. She fell directly on top of the jumble of weeds, and became hopelessly entangled. She was a strong swimmer, but the vines acted as a net and she could not break free. Every kick seemed to wrap her tighter in the net, and she began to sink, desperately trying to keep her head above water, and failing.

She could feel something below her, tugging sharply on the vines, dragging her away from the statue and towards the darkest part of the mere. Her arms were bound to her sides and she could not reach her knife She knew she wasn't alone in the water. She panicked, gasped in fear and her lungs filled with water.

She looked up desperately at the sunlight gleaming off of the alabaster statue, then down to the blackness of the mere. She saw two yellow eyes, and a darkness that made all other blacks fade to gray in comparison.

She thought she heard the lullaby once more, but a slow roar rumbled in her ears and her vision faded as she began to lose consciousness.

Suddenly, there was light again. A knife cut a swath through the weeds above her, letting in sunlight as sudden and welcome as a dawn.

She sensed someone else in the water, but beside her, not crouching in the dark below her.

Kili's blade hacked through the vines beneath her and she could see it again - the leech monster. The black beast recoiled from the blade, and Kili was able to cut Rhavaniel free. She drifted, as if in sleep - her arms and legs would not respond.

Kili gripped her shoulder and began to swim, dragging her behind him. He pushed her head above water, and the sunlight blinded her. Her lungs worked on instinct alone, shuddering as if they would break through her chest, seeking air.

They reached the shore, and Kili slogged through the muck and reeds, dragging Rhavaniel like a sack until they were completely clear of the water and he collapsed in the grass beside her.

Rhavaniel's body was wracked with coughs as it tried to shed the last of the water in her stomach and lungs. Kili reached for her, and cradled her head until it passed.

"Her face," she gasped, "did you see her face?"


	40. Confessions

Kili started a fire. They needed to dry their only clothes now, so they might as well eat a hot meal.

Rhavaniel had found bricks of salt in the Dwarf house and brought some with them. Kili used them now to make a circle around them and their fire, to keep the leech away. He could see the leech peeping at them from the water, and threw a chunk of salt at her. She hissed and dove away.

Rhavaniel was abject in her apologies, "I am so sorry. You never should have gone in the water after me. You might have drowned, and then we would both have been lost for my foolishness. You might have drowned....I thought you said Dwarves cannot swim?"

"We are not supposed to be able to swim." Kili said. "I had hoped it was shallow enough that I could walk to you, maybe hold my breath long enough to reach you and walk out with you. It was a foolish thought, but it was something I was told a brave Dwarf would do. But I floated, and instinct told me what to do."

"If I am Aulë's Elf, perhaps you are a Dwarf made by Ilúvatar himself?" she suggested.

"No story that beautiful explains me." said Kili.

Rhavaniel could tell that Kili was upset at being abnormal for a Dwarf, even though that difference was advantageous, "I suppose only _most_ Dwarves cannot swim, and that was enough for Dwarf mothers to raise all of you to fear water."

"I suppose that is the reason." Kili said, unconvinced.

Rhavaniel put her head in her hands, "I should have known something was wrong. I do not know what I was thinking. I have never seen a leech that size, that shape, with a face...do you think that was what sang to me?"

Kili nodded, "It smelled Elf blood. It came looking for you all the way down to our shelter we thought was safe. That was my fault."

Kili sat down beside Rhavaniel, "I am taking you home now, as I should have done the day we met. I am the one who has been childish and not nearly as smart as you thought I was. I dragged you along on a dangerous journey because....because I did not want to be alone, and I only now realize the full depth of my transgressions."

"You are not to blame." Rhavaniel assured him, "I could have asked you to take me back, or left on my own. I did not want to be alone, either. Forgive me for saying it, but we are both too young to be out here. We should both be safe at home, but ....I think maybe neither one of us really has a home, do we?"

Kili shook his head. "Blue Mountain is beautiful....on those days you can forget it is mined out, hunted out, and the land not suited from growing much. I didn't want to turn back and walk away from that little bit of hope for something better."

"You are my 'something better'." Rhavaniel rested her head on Kili's shoulder. "So we are equally at fault, if one could even lay fault. We did not think of the future beyond surviving to the next day. We never even discussed what to do with me when we finally reached the Iron Hills."

Kili looked down at the ground in shame, "And here I must confess more of my faults. I lied. We were never going to the Iron Hills, but to Lonely Mountain itself."

Rhavaniel sat up and looked at him, "But the Mountain is sealed. Nothing lives there but the sleeping dragon."

"There's a way in, a map and a key. My Uncle has them."

"Oh." Rhavaniel pondered silently for a moment. "I was overdue in my life to be lied to. I needed to know what it looked like. I can forgive you for this lie, because you had no reason to trust me when we first met. You are telling me _now_ , when you do trust me. Why should I be angry - because you did not predict the future and confide then a secret that was not even yours to share? No, I am not upset about that lie."

"But you are upset." Kili said, noticing the welling tears.

"I am upset because you are going on a dangerous quest. My first parents went on a quest, and they never came back to me."

Kili took Rhavaniel's hand in his, "I know, and I am sorry about that. I wish I knew what their quest was, because it must have been important for them to leave you, even for a moment."

"What is your quest for?" she asked.

"It is for the fate of my people. I am sure you have heard the tales of treasure, and yes there is gold in the Mountain, but it is about more than that. My people are scattered and... _failing_. They don't even have enough hope in the future to have Dwarflings. We need a homeland.

We used to live well beside the tribe of Man in Erebor. That is what happens when there is enough to go around. But in the West where we are all poor, it changed. Now, Man leaves us to fight the Orcs on our own, hoping our two tribes will destroy each other and they will be done with us....as if Dwarves and Orcs were the same. That is how my father died, fighting Orcs, with no help from any but a few Dwarves.

But the signs are here now. There is a chance for all of my people to have a place in this world again. This quest is greater than me, and what I might want."

"But what would you want for yourself," Rhavaniel asked him, "if you could choose?"

"I have been told my whole life about brave Kings - my ancestors - who conquered this land to provide a good life for their people. I want to live a part of that destiny - to take back what is ours. I have _always_ wanted that. I've trained my whole life for it. I felt blessed that I would finally have that chance. I was afraid I was too young to come with Uncle Thorin, but Fili convinced him I was ready. Now, I realize Fili was wrong. A warrior, a _real_ Prince of Erebor, would have taken you to a safe place first, then set out again on his quest."

Rhavaniel began to protest.

"No." Kili stopped her. "You were a little bird that fell from a nest. I should have put you back. Instead, I took you away with me like a selfish child. I need to set that right."


	41. Directions

Kili and Rhavaniel quickly at their warmed stew, then doused the fire and collected their packs.

Kili took one last look back at the mere. "She looks like you, doesn't she?"

Rhavaniel was shocked, "I thought you did not see her face! Do I really look like that?"

"Not the monster!" Kili quickly assured her. "The Lady of the statue. She has your little chin and your curly hair."

"Oh," she blushed, "I am not so pretty, but thank you."

"You are that pretty." Kili insisted. "We are ready, then?"

"Yes." she replied.

Kili turned south. Rhavaniel turned north and began to walk away.

"Where are you going?" Kili asked, "Mirkwood is this way."

"I am not going back to Mirkwood." she replied. "Why should I? I know all of the undarkened parts of the Woodland Realm. You have seen the Keep - the only part of King Thranduil's castle that Dwarves are allowed to see, apparently. On the other hand, neither of us have ever seen _a dragon_. I say we head North."

"No! I explained this - I need to take you home."

"I am not ready to go home." she calmly stated.

"This is not amusing, Rhavaniel."

Rhavaniel kept walking, "You can drag me south, kicking and screaming, or we can head north in harmony. You do have a choice in the matter."

Kili caught up with her, "You need to do as I tell you."

"Does that tone work on Dwarf girls?" she scoffed. "I think not. I would not have had to teach you how to kiss if it had."

Kili put himself in front of her path, "Why are you suddenly so stubborn?"

Rhavaniel stopped and looked Kili in the eyes. "I have _always_ been stubborn. You have not noticed because up until know, I have thought your plans to be best for us both, and complied. Now that we have established that we are equals, and I disagree with you, there will be no budging. I head north, even if I go alone."

She dodged past him and kept walking.

She called over her shoulder, "When I find your Uncle, I will tell him that you are alive. I am sure he will be happy with the news, and pleased to get an archer of any race or gender to replace you."

Kili laughed despite himself. It was impossible for him to stay mad at this girl for more than a moment.

He ran after her. "You are wrong. Uncle Thorin is _not_ going to like this. Not one bit."

"Your Uncle Thorin put you on this path," she said, "but Aulë himself must have put me on your path, you know. Aulë outranks your Uncle."

"How do you manage to mix so much blasphemy into your strange logic?" Kili asked incredulously, " Aulë, _Mahal_ , does not make Elves. You would behave far more Dwarfishly if that were the case."

Rhavaniel smirked, "I am keeping my clothes on - how is that for Dwarfish behavior? The sun is finally out and beautiful. I should be enjoying it on my skin. But no, I am compromising."

"You are not compromising, you are _manipulating_ ," Kili told her, "and quite shameless about it."

"I already confessed to being a bad influence." Rhavaniel smiled.


	42. All About Orcs

"I need to become better at killing Orcs." Rhavaniel announced.

"You have done an impressive job so far." Kili told her, "You are a great archer - as good as any Elf Guard already, from what I have seen."

"Thank you." Rhavaniel replied, "But I have every reason to be concerned. I am not afraid of death, but I am very afraid that what happened to Glennodad and Vehiron could happen to me."

Kili nodded in agreement, "We Dwarves are told that Orcs were formed from the corruption of men or elves. Now, you and I have seen the proof of it."

Rhavaniel shook her head sadly, "I heard those same stories but I _never_ believed it. That _man_ was turned into Orc? Yes, they are easily corrupted. We know the legend of the Rings of power. All men who wielded them were ruined to their very souls. But elves were able to control themselves, and used their Rings for good. By that logic, I thought my kind were beyond such diabolical corruptions."

Kili recollected all he knew of the legends, "We were told that Morgoth _preferred_ elves over men to make Orcs. Such Orcs were harder to make but near immortal, just like elves. Those are the Uruk-Hai. You will never hear of a Dwarf formed to Orc, though. My kind cannot be corrupted, just as the Dwarf Rings of power did not corrupt their owners. My grandfather, King Thrain, was the last Dwarf to own one of the those Rings."

Rhavaniel was amazed. She had not put much thought into the fact that Kili was from a noble family. What was merely a story to her was deeply personal family history to him.

"Your Grandfather was not corrupted by its power?" she asked.

"No. The Ring made him even wealthier, along with the rest of Erebor. But my mother confided in me and Fili that the Longbeard Ring was the cause of constant jealousy from the other Dwarf tribes that had lost their Rings. It even caused strife and plotting within the Longbeard tribe. And, I must admit, there is such a thing as gold sickness that can take hold of Dwarves. It is especially unhealthy in a King - it will lead him to unwise decisions. My mother wanted us to know those signs." he chuckled, " As if we had to worry about being spoiled by wealth."

"If the Orcs who captured you did not plan to corrupt you into their kind, why did they not kill you?"

Kili thought for a moment. He would have liked to spare Rhavaniel every gruesome thing he knew about Orcs, but that would do her a disservice. She did need to be prepared for the worst.

"Orcs _like_ torture. They have been known to take some unfortunate Dwarf alive when it suites them. We have all heard stories in Blue Mountain - Orcs take one of us and amuse themselves with him for days before killing and eating him. Or letting him go, broken and shamed, back to his home as a warning. But that is not what happened to me. The Orc wanted me to call out for you, and lead you into a trap."

Rhavaniel had not realized. "You would not do it... I should have known. Thank you."

Kili looked at her and spoke gravely, "I do not tell you this so that you will thank me. I want you to know how dangerous the world is, and that you should not always come to me if I call you. You need to know that in a moment of weakness, I did think of it."

Rhavaniel kissed him, "Thoughts are wild animals running in our heads. Do not apologize for each and every one of them. You are only responsible for the ones that you catch and ride."

Kili laughed at Rhavaniel's imagination. "Who would have thought I should end up paired with a philosopher? Fili may find that even more surprising than the fact that you are Elf."

After a moment, Kili became thoughtful and asked. "Do you still have your crescent arrowhead?"

"Yes." Rhavaniel said, pulling it out of the quiver. "I saw it in a history book I 'borrowed' from the master library. Why do they lock away the best books? Anyway, I made it to challenge myself, and it was not easy, I assure you. Elves do not use this ancient thing, though I am sure I could hunt with it if I had to."

Kili studied it, "You say this style is ancient?"

Rhavaniel nodded, "Yes, unused in a thousand years or more. It is a particularly cruel tip, supposed to have been favored by only the elite bodyguards of Fëanor, a great King of my people. Better body armor contributed to its obsolescence - I learned that in my warfare class. Leaf-shaped arrowheads were designed to breach the chinks in armor. These old crescents...they tear holes in unprotected flesh."

"I have never seen one of these before." Kili said, "If you saw an Orc that used this kind of arrowhead, what would you think?"

"I would surmise that such an Orc must be very old to be familiar with this arrowhead at all. Maybe he stole it from a warrior Elf of the Noldor tribe."

"Or he was once, himself, an Elf warrior."

"Sadly, that may be true."

"What else, if he was Noldor?"

"Well, the Noldor didn't like Dwarves." she said quietly.

"What Elf tribe does?"

"It was different with the Noldor...worse. If a Noldor did not like you, then he had to be the very best there was at disliking you. The Learned Ones were a vengeful, prideful people. I suppose they earned their pride, for they were the greatest in every Elvish craft - language, music, embroidery, metalwork...."

"Magic?"

Rhavaniel hesitated, "I don't know, but true Elvish smith work involves magic, so the best smiths would have to be powerful magicians. An ancient Noldor would have made his own arrowheads, for warfare was not just a means to an end for them. It was an art, and the instruments of war must carry the artist's signature. An Elf skilled enough to make any arrowhead that Aulë himself imagined, but chose this one, which cripples rather than kills - I would not consider such an Elf to be my kinsman for he would expect to use them only on creatures that had no armor."

"Like women and children?" Kili mused.

"I suppose."

"What kind of Orc might he be, this Elf who started out so cruel? So powerful?" Kili whispered.

"I shudder to think what he would look like. Taller than the tallest Elf I have ever seen, and twice as broad, for the Noldor were the largest among our tribes. But we are only speculating, are we not?"

"Yes. May I keep this?" Kili asked.

"Of course." Rhavaniel replied, no longer so proud of her craftsmanship once she thought about the history behind the design. She didn't want to keep it, and she wondered why Kili did. He seemed troubled. If he had a secret that was his alone, she knew he would share it with her. He wasn't sharing.

Rhavaniel decided to bring the discussion back to practical matters, for Dwarf minds happily focused on the practical, "Are there poisons that work on Orc or Warg that we could be making?"

Kili was pulled out of his dark and distant thoughts by the question, "I ...do not know. I never learned that, but not because I am young. Poisoning is not a Dwarf warrior's way. There is no honor in poison, not ever."

Rhavaniel rolled her eyes, "That is silly. If I can kill an Orc an easier way, then I certainly will, without a thought to how honorable it might be. Now _I_ am being the practical one. I hope you appreciate the irony."

Kili laughed at her. "I suppose poison would work on an Orc, if it could kill Elf or Man. But who has tried to do so?"

Rhavaniel pondered the question, "Even the worst toxins in nature would only slow an Elf down, so it might not kill an Orc if it was originally elf-blooded - an Uruk-Hai, you called them? I fear we have too many unknowns to solve this problem. Oh, but what about things that don't hurt us, but might be offensive to corrupted creatures? What about miruvor, or Elf metal?"

"That might do it." Kili conceded, "But those are precious commodities and we have none, or none to spare. We cannot sacrifice your sword."

Rhavaniel continued to search for answers, "What about other object or elements of purity? Could arrowheads be made of sacred stone, so that even a minor wound could be fatal? What about honey, it is miraculous and immortal?" She happened to be eating some of the honey salvaged from the Dwarf house. She had poured it into smaller jars for carrying in their packs.

"How can you drink that straight?" Kili asked. "Are you flying on the hummingbird in your head?"

He tried to take the jar from her but she darted out of his reach with a giggle.

"Gandalf the Grey might know." Kili continued, "or at least rule out what poisons and curses wizards have tried and failed against Orcs."

"There is a wizard in your Company?" Rhavaniel asked with excitement.

"I have not had a chance to tell you about Mister Gandalf yet...."


	43. Sweet Talk

Kili and Rhavaniel had kept up a brisk pace since leaving the mere, and covered a great deal of ground by midday. They stopped briefly to rest.

"Would you like some bilberry jam?" Rhavaniel asked, reaching in to her pack.

"That will be fine." Kili said. He opened the jar and sighed, "I never imagined I could miss bread this much."

Rhavaniel laughed, "Spread the jam on a slice of baked root and use your imagination."

"I am surprised at how little game there is here, not so much as a coney since we left the mere." Kili noted.

"That is how we could get the poison into the Orcs! Poison the meat of a fresh kill and leave it for them to find. They could not resist it, not out here." Rhavaniel was quite pleased with her latest idea.

"You make a good point." Kili conceded. "That last Warg was so keen for meat, it had eaten rotten Orc like mother's home cooking."

"But, we have no meat, and no poison, so this is all pointless." Rhavaniel sighed. "Now that I have lived a bit in the world beyond my Kingdom's walls, I wish I had availed myself of all opportunities to learn. If only I had studied High Elvish, and the healing arts, and even _cooking_ more diligently. It would have served us well out here."

"You will have opportunity for all of that again." Kili assured her, "You are like my brother, Fili - you will be surpassing your teachers in no time. You have a very quick mind, you know. You are the brightest girl I have ever met. If your teachers have not discovered this, then _they_ have failed to spark your interest in the subject."

Rhavaniel blushed, "Thank you. You challenge my mind, like no one else has before. You are also very handsome."

Kili laughed. "I cannot look handsome to an Elf! I assumed you looked past that because you gave me your heart, but you do not have to pretend. Dwarf and Elf standards of beauty are very different."

Rhavaniel was indignant, "What? I should moon over an Elf Prince who is even prettier than I am, just as every other Elf girl does? I never did, even before I met you. Now that I _have_ met you, I understand why. I think a male should look like a male - should look like you."

"Well," Kili smiled, "I find you to be a lovely girl. More so every day I am with you."

Rhavaniel gave him a quick kiss, "Will you still love me if I grow a foot taller than you?"

Kili grimaced, "That might be difficult..."

Rhavaniel tackled him and he laughed "I am teasing! I will love you always, I promise!"


	44. Foothills

Kili studied the geography of the Mountain before them. "I think I remember these foothills from my Uncle's map. We are still too far east of the Gates of Erebor. I just don't know if we should circle around or cut through the hills."

Rhavaniel shrugged, "We do not know what danger to expect, either way."

"Aye." Kili sighed, "and no telling which way will be faster. Do you know how to use those hooks and ropes you took from the Watchtower, if we take the mountainous path?"

Rhavaniel nodded eagerly, "Yes. My family often visited the cliff-dwelling Avarin settlements to work in their forges, and always took me. They wanted me to learn some of my culture. Either that, or they were hoping those Avarin Elves would steal me back."

Kili laughed, "I am surprised they did not leave you there and run away in the night."

"I am sure they were tempted." Rhavaniel smiled at his teasing, "The point being, I know how to use climbing ropes."

"Then we should take our chances on the foothills."

"Agreed."

They began their hike.

"Are Avarin all that different from Silvan Elves?" Kili wanted to know. He wanted to know every little thing about her, really.

"They are more secretive," Rhavaniel explained, "like Dwarves are to outsiders. I remember a few of them would greet me so warmly, kiss me, and give me small presents ...... I thought they must be kin to my first parents, but they never said so. I am not fond of secrets as a result, though I seem to have some skill at making and keeping them. It must be in my blood."

Kili understood, "Dwarves keep secrets, too, even among our own kind. I like it less and less as I get older."

"I suppose they have their reasons, trying to protect us." she mused, "But if you do not know what that danger is, you cannot reduce the toll that secret takes in the currency of trust."

"There should always be a chance to earn trust back, though." Kili looked at her with gratitude. She never lost her trust in him, despite all the reasons she should have.

"I think you are right." she smiled. "But I won't take that risk. I will not waste one copper of your trust in me. I promise to never lie to you."

"That is a big promise coming from you." he teased.

"No, it is a very easy promise. I feel as though I can tell you anything. Honesty is...well...I did not know how good it could be until I tried it in earnest. Perhaps I thought of the truth as a burden, sometimes, so I left it behind."

"I suppose many truths are heavy burdens, the ones kept as secrets. There is no leaving them behind, though." Kili pondered. "The only way to lighten them is by sharing. I am glad you can share your burdens with me, and I hope that when I rejoin my people, they see how strong I have grown on this journey, and share their burdens with me, too."

"We're not children anymore." she blushed, "I think they will see that, certainly in you."

Kili blushed as well. He grabbed Rhavaniel's free hand in his, brought it to his lips, and kissed it.

"Dwarves are better with actions than with words." he explained.

"You are skilled in both." she assured him.

"Tell me what else you are skilled in." Kili asked her. He liked to hear her talk.

"It is hard to put into words....I think it is the Avari in me. All Elves love beauty, but Avari are the most likely to shun gold and gems and find beauty in nature. They would rather discover and shape and live in a beautiful cliff than in any castle."

"Wait, so, you might _like_ to live in a mountain?" Kili's interest had been piqued.

Rhavaniel smiled at him, "If we could build a nest on the _side_ of the mountain, so that we could greet the Sun every day, then this little bird would be happy."

"That sounds like a fine compromise."

"Then compromise shall be one of my skills. I will be sure to practice it, at least with you. And now if I may finish my point - Avari live in cliffs because they value _seeking_ as much as making. They must first find a place or an object perfectly crafted by Iluvatar Himself and then lightly put their hand to it. Their art - their very lives - are a compromise, a careful blending of the wild with the civilized. They believe it makes them closer to Iluvatar."

"Dwarves endlessly drill and pave and carve our homes in the mountains. Mahal is our Maker, so to build makes us closer to Him. I think He would not mind letting some things remain wild, though." Kili winked at her.

"My name means 'wild'. It is Avari, given by my first parent. My second parents decided I should keep it. I am the only Rhavaniel in a Silvan village full of Hannasiels, Alyas, and Melimas ."

"You may be a wild thing to your people, but I find you thoughtful first, so I would have called you 'Ranakul'. That is not a _real_ Dwarf girl name, but that is what I think of when I see you."

"Ranakul... I like that. But I also like when you call me Rhavi." she said sweetly.

They held hands and continued their trek.

She looked behind them at the grasslands, and then ahead to Lonely Mountain.

"Are you imagining what this place will be like when it is your new home?" she asked Kili.

"I was letting myself think about that. I was thinking about sledding and ice fishing with Fili when the snow falls. And then I remind myself that things will be different. Our future will be different, and Fili has responsibilities in that future. He can't be sledding and fishing all winter - he is going to be busy. He will have to think about opening up that good vein of coal in the Mountain, big enough to last centuries, to keep the forges and furnaces and water pumps running. And come spring, he won't be able to ride across the grassland with me, hunting with falcons. He'll be helping Uncle Thorin figure out who is going to plant enough food for all the Dwarrows that will be returning. Having wealth to buy food won't matter if these lands aren't cultivated. We can't be sure Men will move back in time to work the land, so Mister Dwalin may have to take up farming for a bit." Kili chuckled, "That won't go over well."

"It is frightening, not knowing if you will be in anyone's future." Rhavaniel said.

"I will still be in Fili's future, and he in mine. It will just be a bit different, is all." Kili replied. It took him a second thought to realize Rhavaniel was possibly talking about _herself_ with her forlorn comment.

"You have such a bright future with your family, and all the things they are still teaching you about being an Elf and a blacksmith. You are looking forward to that still, aren't you?" Kili asked, doubting his words were adequate.

"I am, but I feel I am not permanent in anyone's life - not for family, not for teachers. It is as if I am....passing through. When they think of their future, I know I am not there. I am invisible." she said simply.

"I see you." Kili told her.

"I know you do. I did not even know what that felt like until I met you. But even you cannot see me in your future."

"That is not true. I think of how things will be when we are both a bit older. There!" Kili pointed to a outcropping on Lonely Mountain, facing East, which supported a few trees. "I know that is _our_ nest, when I see my future."

"Ooooh, your pet falcon will like that, too." she smiled at him. "Do you have one already?"

"No." Kili replied, "Fili and I shared a kestrel when we were little, and then had a silver falcon who lived to a ripe old age. We hadn't been ready to replace him before we left on the quest."

"I can find a falcon for you, and one for Fili."

"Really? Where?"

"The Avari that live in the Southwest portion of Mirkwood Mountains love birds. They save every nestling pushed out by its siblings that they can. They would give some to a good home. One need only ask nicely, and I ask very nicely."

"I am sure they will not say 'no' to you. Maybe you will be the one who brokers trade between Erebor and the Elves, once we reclaim our Kingdom. You can trade hawks for heliodor."

"I think brokering an agreement between our families, that we may see each other again, will be enough of a challenge." Rhavaniel sighed. "Too much time has already passed for me to pretend I never left King Thranduil's realm. When I eventually return home, I shall have to lie and say that I ran away to the Avari to look for my first family. "

"I don't want you to do that." Kili voiced his concern.

"You don't like that I lie, I know. I want to stop, because I want you to trust and respect me, but I am afraid. They may never let me out of their sight again if I tell the truth."

' _After all our talk of burdens, she still has no safe place to put hers down._ ' Kili thought. "I only meant that....you should have a family that loves you so much, there is no need of lies, ever. It saddens me that you think you have to lie, and that they cannot tell when you are lying."

"I had not thought of it like that." Rhavaniel said quietly.

"I should not have said anything. I am no better - I was not going to tell my family about you until we had Erebor back. That is the same as lying. I am sorry."

"Do not apologize. You tell me things I need to hear, need to think about. I may be young but I am no longer a child. I need to make decisions to shape my own future. When I go back to the Woodland Realm, I will ask my favorite aunt and uncle to let me stay with them permanently, until I am done with school."

"And if they refuse?" Kili asked.

"I have thought of that. I thought of three more relatives I should like to live with. Ones who I think I could be honest with, and they with me. If all say 'no', then I am going to live in one of the Avari villages until you and I can find our time and place to be together once again."

"I think that is a good plan. But how will I find you?"

"I will find you. Erebor is not going anywhere."

"Which Avari village might you go to?" Kili was anxious to know.

"Rumenya Halya. It sits in the eastern-most mountain in the Woodland range. It lies midway between the Elf Path and the Old Forest Road. Theirs is the loveliest village, I think, and it is the one I most likely came from. Oh, and those Avari can fly, or at least they try." she added with enthusiasm. "They make beautiful gliders - it is a kite big enough to hold the weight of an Elf. I have used them a few times, but only a little glider on a short hill. You must be older and well-trained before you can take a big glider off the cliffs. To fly is an amazing experience."

"I know, I have flown on a giant eagle with Fili."

Rhavaniel stopped, "Seriously? You have flown on a bird.....touched the sky?"

"Yes." Kili replied, "The wizard Gandalf is friends with them. He summoned them to help us escape when we were attacked by Azog himself. I truly flew."

Rhavaniel paused, "I am more than a bit jealous. Is there no story I can tell but that you have a better one? I am finding you to be very competitive."

"Being a younger brother will do that to you." Kili conceded.

"So competition may be as frequent as compromise in our relationship?"

"Possibly more." Kili told her.

Rhavaniel gave a sly look, "In that case, I shall race you to that hilltop." and she took off like a gazelle.

"I have the heavier pack!" Kili yelled after her.


	45. The Tower

Kili and Rhavaniel were close to their destination. High at the peak of the foothills, they could see the remains of a tower of the City of Dale.

"Must have been a herald's tower." Kili mused. "The City of Dale will be on the other side. It will be downhill from there."

"It will be good to have high ground for the night." Rhavaniel noted with relief. Even she was tiring after a hard day of climbing. "Nothing will be able to sneak up on is if we camp there."

The sun was rapidly setting in front of them when they reached the base of the tower. The roof had partially caved in, and stones and tiles were scattered at the base of the structure. The large double doors had long rotted away and the opening was partially blocked by large pieces of ceiling tile.

"Do you think it is safe to go inside?" Rhavaniel asked.

Kili slid off his pack and pulled his knife. "Wait here." and he crawled over the debris.

He came back in a moment. "We can't use the stairs. We will have to stay at the lower level. The arches are strong though - it will not collapse on us. Come in."

Rhavaniel handed over their packs, and gracefully jumped over the crumbled pile of ruins.

Once inside, the dust of nearly two hundred years made her sneeze.

"Look." Kili took her by the hand, and proudly led her to the back window of the tower. It was a dizzying straight drop of several hundred feet, but below them were the ruins of the City of Dale. And to the right - the massive doors of Erebor.

Kili smiled. "We are here. Just a matter of finding my brother and Uncle now."

"We can't risk a fire. It might be seen from leagues away at this height, what with so many holes in the walls." Kili said as he kicked away some old wood and leaves to clear a space for them on the floor.

"I do not like staying in a place with only one exit." Rhavaniel said. "How did people ever get to this tower from Dale?"

"I have already thought of that." Kili told her. He went back to the window. "Look - they used a narrow stair built against the cliff wall. It is gone now but you can still see the anchorage drilled into the rock. I would not trust the spikes - they may be rusted through. But this structure is still strong." and he patted the tower walls. Kili pulled out their climbing gear and set up the hooks and ropes on the Tower support pillars. He pulled food, water, weapons and bedroll out of the packs, then hooked the packs at the top of the ropes.

"This is how we are going to get down in the morning." He told her. "If something comes here in the night, we can make a quick exit out the back. They will have to fly to follow us."

"That is a good plan." Rhavaniel told him. "And I will take watch. I promise I will wake you if I hear anything at all this time. I will not leave the tower without you."

"That is good, because I was about to tie _you_ to a line next." Kili teased.

They drank from the water skins and felt through their packs in the dimming light for food. They settled on the last of the stew.

Rhavaniel looked up at the stars from the hole in the tower ceiling. "We have gone from too much roof over our heads to too little." she noted. "Still, the stars are beautiful tonight."

She curled up beside Kili.

"Are you planning to talk with me until I fall asleep?" Kili smiled at her.

"We have been talking all day." Rhavaniel informed him. "I thought I would kiss you until sleep is the last thing on your mind."


	46. Beetles

Bilbo could not sleep. He was too anxious about being on the verge of entering Erebor and facing the dragon, Smaug. He did not know which would be worse to face - a fire drake, or the disappointment of the Company if they could not breech the secret entrance. He wished Gandalf was with them, to give him advice.

Bilbo thought he had been pacing aimlessly, but he found himself approaching Dwalin, who had taken first watch. Dwalin, the first Dwarf Bilbo had ever seen, remained the most intimidating to him. Bilbo had established respect with the regal and doubtful Thorin, and camaraderie with the rest of the Dwarves. But all progress with Dwalin had been lost when Kili was lost. All of the Dwarves had grieved, but Dwalin had not joined them in reminiscing about Kili. Dwalin alone had shut himself away, with no moments of hopefulness about the remainder of their journey.

"Good evening, Mister Dwalin." Bilbo said. "Would you care to share a pipe?"

Dwalin nodded an agreement, and reached for his own pipe. "Never much for smoking, but it does keep the gnats away." Dwalin lit his pipe and said. "I never liked bugs, except maybe beetles."

Hmmph, beetles. First time I spent time with Kili, he was just a little whelp and Dwarf pox was going around. All the little ones had it, even Fili, who was never sick. Thorin brought Kili to me and said he needed me to watch the lad for a few days, maybe a week.

I said, ' _Have you lost your mind? These are bachelor quarters, no one here knows how to tend to a little one_ '.

Thorin said all the family men he thought to ask had Dwarflings with the pox and Dís did not want Kili to catch it.

I said, ' _Let him get the pox and get over it, like we all did_.'

Thorin said that is exactly what he told his sister, but she wasn't having it. Dís said Kili was not as strong as other Dwarflings. He was too thin and if he had to have pox, he needed to be older and the only one sick so the healers themselves could tend to him.  
' _You can't expect a mother to be rational.'_ , Thorin said. Then he put little Kili down on the floor and says ' _Be a good boy, mind Mister Dwalin, and go to bed now_ '.

Kili scuttled off across the floor and I says, ' _Is he not old enough to walk!?!?_ '

Thorin said Kili could walk, and talk, and was as housebroken as anyone else at that end of the living quarters. ' _He decided this morning that he was a beetle, and well, that is what children do_ '.

Then, Thorin lit out of there before I could finish my argument.

Kili slept at the foot of the bed, all curled up. In the morning he scuttled all over the floor and decided that he had to pry into everything within reach, since that is what beetles did.

I got crazy babysitting in that little room for a full day, so I took him out laying trap lines the next. He scuttled all over the grass and burrowed anywhere he could.

He ate everything I put in front of him, including a stick of wood I used as a test of how far he'd take acting like a beetle. I had to pull that back fast. Slept curled up at the foot of the bed.

The third day, I was getting used to this beetle behavior when he walks upright, sits in a chair and says ' _Good morning , Mister Dwalin_ '.

I said, ' _That is not how a beetle behaves_.'

Kili told me. ' _I am not a beetle anymore. My spots falled off._ '

I lifted his shirt and damned if he hadn't had pox the whole time and beat it like it was nothing.

Funny little boy. Fooled everyone."


	47. So Close, So Far

Rhavaniel woke with a start. She had not intended to fall asleep - she had promised to take watch through the night. She had merely closed her eyes for a minute, listening to Kili's heartbeat while he slept. She had not realized she was so tired, and now her stomach was growling with hunger. She quietly slipped out from the bedroll, half dressed. A tug on her hair yanked her back. Kili had rolled over on the end of her braid. She gently pulled it out from under him. 

She crept to the back window and looked all around. She then checked all of the cracks in the walls, and the broken doorway. There was no sign of anyone else on this peak, and no one on the ground below. She heaved a sigh of relief. She would have to be more careful. 

She judged that is was past midnight. She decided to wake Kili a bit before dawn, and ask him take watch so that she could nap. She did not want to push herself so hard that she made another dangerous mistake. 

She found another small jar of honey in the dark, and drank it down. She was still hungry. There were more jars in their packs, and plenty of cooked petty-dwarf roots, but she knew they needed to ration the food. 

She looked up at the spiral staircase leading to the top of the tower. The wooden steps were rotted from rain and harsh weather, but the stone support column was undamaged. She had promised not to leave the tower, but they had not discussed staying on the ground level. Rhavaniel thought she might get a much better view from higher up. She put her bow and quiver over her shoulder, and began to climb.

Her eyes had adjusted to the dark, and there was a bit of moonlight coming in through the hole in the tower roof. She was able to scan each level quickly, with its open floor plan. It looked as though each level had a purpose - sleeping, pantry and kitchen, storage, and a little library that stank so much of mildew she was not tempted to reach for any of the books. The level that had once been the armory was stripped bare. Floorboards on every level were missing or rotted through.

The roof of last level was different. The boards were thicker here, and appeared to have been treated with some sealant. She tried to open the trap door, but it was locked, or covered with debris above. She would have to make a bouncing jump against a wall and crawl up through the gap made by the collapsed roof. She adjusted her bow and made the leap. When she emerged at the top level, she understood why that floor had been so sturdy - it was sound insulated to protect the rest of the tower residents. A great carillon hung from the top level of the tower. The residents of Dale and Erebor had timed their lives around these bells. 

Rhavaniel cautiously examined the bells. The Men of Dale may have played them, but Dwarves surely crafted them from the ore in Lonely Mountain. Dwarf runes and spirals decorated them. They ranged from fist-sized round bells to a heavy bronze upside down tulip bell in the center of the room. 

Rhavaniel walked to the tower opening that faced the City of Dale. This view was better. She thought she saw a flicker of light in an abandoned building. She moved close to take a second look. One of the small bells on the end of the carillon was tenuously hanging from the most rotten portion of supporting wood. Rhavaniel's bow tip grazed it as she leaned out over the window sill, and that was enough to break the bell loose and send it hurtling down the cliff. 

Rhavaniel tried to catch it before it fell, but she was too late. The bell fell straight and soundless while Rhavaniel held her breath. 

"May it land in a little pool of water, or soft grass," she prayed, "and not make a sound." 

The bell struck rock, and rung with a delicate but unmistakable chime. It bounced, and bounced, and bounced again, making music as it rolled all the way into a side street of Dale. 

"Did you hear that, Mister Dwalin?" Bilbo asked anxiously.


	48. The Waiting Game

Kili awoke even before Rhavaniel reached the bottom of the tower's central pillar. Her rush to get below had sent little bits of debris raining down on him like hail.

"Kili! Kili! We can't go down the cliff! There is something down there in the city! I dropped a bell from the top of the tower, and they all have lights now, searching for it." Rhavaniel frantically informed him.

"Why would you drop a _bell?_ " Kili asked, shocked out of a deep sleep.

"It was an accident, _obviously_." she explained. "I am sorry."

" _Sorry?_ Has that become the Elf word for ' _good morning_ '?" Kili snapped. "By Mahal, you are getting tied up tomorrow night!"

They both looked out the window, and Kili could see the movement of half a dozen small lights. They seemed to congregate below them, then become motionless.

"By the grace of Mahal, it could be my Uncle and brother down there, just waiting for me to catch up to them."

"Or?"

"Or it could be Thranduil's Guard, sent to keep us away from Erebor. That would be disappointing, but at least they would do us no harm."

"And the other possibilities?" Rhavaniel asked anxiously.

"Goblins would already be coming up the cliff. They climb like nothing you've seen before." Kili told her grimly. "It could be Orcs, but I think we would have heard them rallying for a raid. We are in a good position here. We can only watch and wait."

Kili put his arm around Rhavaniel to comfort her. "We will be fine."

(*****)

Below, in the ruins of Dale, Fili picked up a bell. He pulled a ragged piece of cloth from his pocket to muffle the sound, and handed it to Thorin. "What do we make of this?"

Thorin looked up. "I remember that tower. It housed one set of the City bells. The night is still - something must be up there."

Dwalin agreed, "Aye, but it could be just an animal."

"Or goblins."

"Or Elves, or......"

".....Orcs."

"We watch." Thorin told them. "Watch and wait. It will come to us, and we will be ready."


	49. Convergence

Kili and Rhavaniel watched the lights below them disappear. They kept watch, and thought they saw a flicker here and there, but nothing certain.

They began to prepare their defenses, and plot their next steps, until dawn broke.

"If it is Dwarf or Elf, we could signal a truce." Rhavaniel suggested. "At least we would know what was down there."

"I will not surrender to Elves. Not when I am this close." Kili insisted.

"I am not asking you to. _I_ could talk to them alone. We can figure out a signal so I can let you know if they came looking for you, or if they have found any other Dwarves. That would be a great thing to know, wouldn't it?" Rhavaniel asked.

"But how would I get you back?"

"I assumed you were quite through with me at this point." she said contritely.

Kili stopped his preparations to assure her, "That is not true. You are mine now, and I am yours. What happened last night with the bell - it seemed disastrous at the time but it was a good thing to know. We would have repelled down to Dale at first light and been completely exposed. With time, everything you think you have done wrong turns out right, because you were sent as a blessing to me."

Rhavaniel threw her arms around him, "Thank you." she whispered.

Kili returned to the practical decisions to be made, "We _will_ shoot a truce arrow, and see what happens. If they show themselves to be Dwarf, we repel down and greet them. If they be Elf, you go down alone. If they insist on taking you with them, you will go. You will be able to sneak away and come back, hmm, there." He pointed to the ruined sister tower on the west foothill spur.

"And if they are Orc?" she asked.

Kili frowned, "There is our problem. I have not completely figured that out yet. But we can't stay here. They will trap us sooner or later. Can you take one last look at the top of the tower?"

"Yes." Rhavaniel scurried up the central pillar, and made her leap to the carillon level. She looked down on the City of Dale and saw nothing. She looked to the south and again saw nothing. She looked back the way she and Kili had come. At first, the rising sun blinded her and then she saw them - Orcs. They were still far away - if they had been in the city last night, they would have been upon them already. No, these Orcs were just arriving.

"Kili!" she called down, "There are Orcs approaching, a great many of them, from the east. I think they are......"

"What is it?!?"

Rhavaniel called down, "They are heading to the City of Dale, as if they had taken the long path around that we considered yesterday. They have come to surround the city - scores of them. The lights we saw last night may have been a scouting party."

Rhavaniel scurried down the tower. "But if those are Dwarves or Elves below us, then we should warn them, and quickly."

"Let us trust in Mahal." Kili said. Leaning out the window, he loaded his bow with his last Dwarf arrow. He aimed for an open spot on the outskirts of the ruined city, where they had seen lights congregate last night.

(*****)

The Company of Thorin saw the arrow come down.

"Dwarf arrow!" Fili called out.

"Do not touch it." Thorin warned, "It could be a trap."

(*****)

Kili and Rhavaniel conferred in the tower.

"Either no Dwarf, or distrusting Dwarf. Does not tell us much, unfortunately. The next test is for Elf." and Rhavaniel pulled a tightly rolled ribbon from her quiver.

Kili watched curiously, "I meant to ask you what those are for."

"Since Dwarves have few bowmen, I don't imagine you developed the language of archery that we have. The colors of the ribbons are signals. Red is danger. If they be Elves, they will know what this means. Like runes, I should not be telling you this. Call us even."

She let loose an arrow, and it joined Kili's on the ground.

(*****)

Bilbo spotted it first. "An Elf arrow.....and what it the ribbon for?"

Thorin frowned, "A test. Leave it. Let them show more of who they are."

(*****)

In the tower, Rhavaniel climbed back to the top to judge the progress of the Orcs. Their pace was still casual - they were not charging. She could see that a part of the group had split off and was heading toward their tower - no doubt planning to secure a lookout point. The main force would be entering the City of Dale.

She called down to Kili. "Did your Uncle ever tell you what any of these bells meant? How many chimes for morning prayer, how many chimes for danger?"

"No. I don't know that." Kili yelled up. "Warnings always come in threes, though."

"Whatever is hiding in that City, if it were your people or mine, what would you risk to warn them?"

Kili knew what she was asking. Would they give away their position in the face of an advancing Orc war party? For all they knew, it was just more Orcs below them.

Kili listened to his heart. "It is the Company. I have to believe that . Elves would have answered your call with another arrow, and Orcs would have charged us under cover of darkness. Do it."

Rhavaniel shut the trap door. She knew what to do. She pulled a long scarf from her jacket pocket and wrapped it around her ears, then pulled up her green hood. She found the bell ringers' hammers, and took one. Selecting the biggest bell, she gave it three mighty blows.

(*****)

Thorin failed to take his own advice and grew impatient. "We should have taken that tower ourselves before venturing into this City. We have no high ground, no way of telling what is going on, or what whoever is in that tower now is up to."

Bilbo piped up with his theory, "I think whoever is up there is trying very hard to tell us something. Dwarf and Elf - they sent arrows of _both_ kind. I think they are friendly to Dwarf and Elf. "

"Then they should show themselves." Dwalin said firmly.

Fili disagreed, "That is asking a bit much, don't you think?"

"Perhaps we should be showing _ourselves_ , so that they know we are not Orcs?" Bilbo pressed.

Then they heard it - three big booms of the bell.

(*****)

Back in the tower, Rhavaniel could tell that the smaller Orc contingent heading toward them had heard the bells. They had quickened their pace to a run.

"We've been discovered!" she called down.

Rhavaniel pulled out three more arrows. She knew all eyes would be on the bell tower now. She let the arrows fly in the direction of southeast, toward the larger force of approaching Orcs.

There was nothing else Kili and Rhavaniel could do. They had to defend themselves next, and hope that whoever was on the ground, Dwarf of Elf, would know to do the same.

(*****)

Thorin grimaced, "Three bells and three arrows. There is danger, and it comes from the southeast. Fili, try to get a view of what we are up against. The rest of you, start putting last night's plan in place."


	50. Orchestration

"Those Orcs have probably been on the move all night." Kili told her, "I suspect they were going to secure the City and sleep during the day. They are as tired and hungry as we are. But we are in a good position to fight them off."

Kili remained on the ground level, while Rhavaniel climbed to the top with bow and arrows. She used the herald hammer to break more of the interior walls, giving her pieces of brick and stone to throw down. 

Kili sealed off the rest of the open doorway with large stones, and prepared to use the cracks and gaps in the wall for shooting. 

The group of Orcs slowed as they advanced on the bell tower. They had no Wargs. What they did have were archers, for this group had been sent to secure a high position over the City. 

Rhavaniel had managed to free the trap door on the top level of the bell tower so that she could drop down inside safely rather than going in and out through crumbled roof and wall. 

"They are falling into formation with their archers." she called down to Kili.

No sooner had she finished her sentence than the Orcs let sail with their first volley. They all targeted the only opening of the tower - the bell chamber. 

Rhavaniel was well protected behind the wall when the arrows came - their metal tips hitting the bells with a fierce cacophony. 

Rhavaniel put her hands over her sensitive ears and shouted down, "I am fine! Let us hope they continue to waste arrows."

The Orcs advanced, and again fired into the tower opening. 

Kili was able to see that the second frontal attack was a diversion, with a few smaller Orcs attempting to approach the tower from either cliff edge. 

"North end!" Kili called up as he easily shot the Orc approaching from the south side. The Orc fell screaming over the cliff. Rhavaniel had a wider range of view and attack than the Orcs thought, thanks to the open eaves under the roof. She was able to kill the other Orcs quickly. 

The Orcs conferred. Kili and Rhavaniel spent several silent moments in dreadful anticipation. 

"Do you need more arrows?" Rhavaniel called down. "I think these Orcs ones will work with your bow. They are mostly unbroken."

"I can always use more arrows, but don't leave your post."

Rhavaniel gathered the Orc arrows and sent them down on the pulley and basket they had repaired in the night. 

"Thank you!" Kili called. "I hope I don' t have to use these. I think they may retreat and confer with the larger group of Orcs below. If they believe Elves have already secured the City, they may fall back entirely." 

"We are putting up a good bluff." Rhavaniel shouted down gleefully, " I......"

"What is it?"

"They brought a siege ladder with them!" Rhavaniel warned.

The two dozen Orcs split up. Half fanned out on either side of the tower, while the other half made a central charge to bring the ladder to the opening at Rhavaniel's level. 

"They are coming at us from all sides!" she called down.

"I know." Kili replied. "Keep the ladder away as long as you can. I will take care of the rest!"

Kili was able to take several clear shots, thinning the ranks on the south side before he had to stop and repeat the exercise on the north side. Rhavaniel's task was more difficult - the ladder crew had armor designed to thwart archers. Her shots had to be at the chinks in armor, and she was forced to take wounding shots at the foot and shoulder. The Orcs kept coming. 

On the ground level, Kili could hear the scrape of wood and metal against stone, and knew the ladder had reached the tower. 

"Now!" Rhavaniel called down. 

Kili took one last shot at a ground-level Orc, and climbed the tower's central pillar. Rhavaniel could not complete the next part of the plan without him.


	51. Day Breaker

Rhavaniel called out, "Clear!" and Kili came up through the bell level's trap door.

Last night, they had sawed down the largest bell that would still fit through the hole in the tower wall. It was a beautiful silver cylinder inscribed with its name in Khazdul, **'Day Breaker** '.

Rhavaniel took one last shot at an Orc attempting to climb the tower's north side, then ducked behind Day Breaker with Kili. They waited quietly until they heard the creak of the ladder, warning them that the first Orc was about to step into the tower.

Kili nodded to Rhavaniel, and they shouldered the great bell toward the opening. The massive bell rolled through the tower and down the ladder, crushing all the Orcs in its wake. The bell continued to roll down through the foothills, finally seeing the sunlight it was named for. As it picked up speed, its clapper shook loose from centuries of corrosion and the bell rang once more as it raced away.

Kili began to pick off the wounded and scattered Orcs with his bow. Rhavaniel was about to join him when a disturbing thought crossed her mind. She turned to the cliff side of the tower and looked down. The tide had not completely turned in their favor.

"The Orcs are in the City! They are climbing the cliff!" Their exit route was blocked.

A group of small, nimble snaga Orcs were attempting to climb the cliff wall. As Kili suspected, some of the most rusted spikes broke off, sending an Orc screaming to the base of the cliff. But most of the spikes held, and the Orcs kept coming.

Rhavaniel lowered her bow, "We need to take them all down at once."

Kili understood, and together they began to rock a large supporting beam on the carillon. The wood was weak and rotten. Once they were able to overcome the inertia, the weight of the bells worked with them. The beam and its heavy bells crashed out the tower and dropped down along the cliff face, taking all of the climbing Orcs with it.

The tearing of the carillon beam also tore down another section of the already weak tower roof. Kili and Rhavaniel barely avoided being pulled down with bells and tiles.

Kili shouted, "We can't stay here any longer!"

They climbed down the central pillar, to the increasing pile of rubble on the ground floor. They finally have no choice but to take the rope exit down the cliff, and quickly. They gathered their packs, and climbed out the window.

(***********)

A single Orc had survived the attempt to scale the cliff and claim the tower. He was battered and bruised at the foot of the cliffs. He looked up to see two small figures coming down the cliff on ropes. Those were the ones causing all of this trouble! He was not a trained archer, but he grabbed a fallen Orc's bow and took his best shot.

The Orc missed Kili twice. He next tried to shoot Rhavaniel, who was coming down faster than Kili. The arrow hit her in the pack, which protected her. But the force of the heavy arrow was as strong as a kick, and slammed Rhavaniel's light body into the cliff wall. Kili tried to grab her, but she lost her grip, and began to repel far too rapidly.

Kili clamped his rope to steady himself. He twisted around, and threw his knife at the Orc bowman, catching him squarely in the head before he could draw aim on Rhavaniel again.

Rhavaniel landed on the ground with a crunch and spit out blood from her battered face. She waved to Kili that she was alright, and ducked behind the carillon wreckage to catch her breath.

Kili struggled to release his clamp. His line had become kinked and he was stranded too far above the ground to jump. He scanned the ground and saw it, a riderless Warg waiting for him.

"Don't move Rhavi, don't make a sound." he whispered.

The Warg growled up at Kili, then sniffed the air. It put its great snout to the ground and came closer to the cliff - it smelled Elf blood.

"No! Come back here! Here, you beast! Rhavi, look out!" Kili shouted.

Rhavaniel was frantically searching her pack for her spare bowstring . The first string had been snapped in her fall. She heard Kili shouting from the cliff and knew something was approaching her hiding place. She pulled out her sword and leaned back against the tower debris, listening carefully.

She felt it before she heard it, hot breath coming down on top of her head. She looked up, directly into the eyes of the Warg. She saw.....recognition. The beast knew her. She knew him from his burn scars and white chest. This was the Warg she and Kili had spared. She had treated his wounds, and fed him. She looked in his eyes and knew he would not harm her. With one last sniff, the Warg turned away from her and walked south along the cliff wall, abandoning the City of Dale.


	52. Rooftops

Kili freed himself and quickly reached the ground, rushing to check on Rhavaniel. She was on her feet, restringing her bow. Kili embraced her. The creaking of the bell tower above interrupted their quiet moment of comfort. 

"We need to move away from here." Kili said. "We can get a good vantage point from those rooftops."

Rhavaniel nodded and wiped blood from her face with her scarf. "I have not determined if fate wanted to reward us for our act of mercy, or if I just saw the Warg that Aulë built." 

"We will philosophize that later, I am sure." Kili laughed at her. "Come along."

They grabbed their packs and weapons, and climbed to a rooftop in time to spot a second small expedition of Orcs coming around the cliff side of the City. 

Kili and Rhavaniel were able to eliminate half a dozen Orcs before the creatures realized the tower had not been captured as ordered, and their flanking maneuver would fail. The rest fled.

"I am out of arrows." Rhavaniel told Kili. 

"I need you to stay and hide, then." Kili insisted "My people are here somewhere. I can hear them, they are so close. I will find them and circle back to you."

Rhavaniel nodded and kissed him, "Be safe."

As soon as Kili left along the rooftops, Rhavaniel looked at the damage they had done. There were many dead Orcs on the ground with arrows that could be reused. She felt defenseless and useless in hiding.

As she was debating the merits of a quick expedition to the ground to retrieve her arrow, she spotted two more Orcs approach on the cliff side. They were well-armed archers, clearly more disciplined and determined than the small group she and Kili had routed. 

These Orcs were not the same tribe that they had first encountered at Burnt Ridge, the ones they had come to call the Birdclaw Tribe. These Orcs had no interest in taking prisoners - the assault on the bell tower left no room for capture or surrender. These must be the Orcs that Kili told her about, the troops of Azog the Defiler. 

The Orcs climbed to her rooftop and passed so close to her hiding place, Rhavaniel could smell them. She feared they could smell her, but the wind must have been in her favor. 

She did not have a choice in the matter now. Those Orcs were going to circle around to the direction she saw Kili running. She needed arrows if she was going to defend herself, let alone help Kili and the other Dwarves.

She jumped down quietly and kept low to the ground as she approached the dead Orcs. She quickly pulled out a dozen of her arrows that were still intact, and put them in her quiver.

She paused. It felt as though she were being watched, but she did not see or hear anyone approaching. She needed to get back to the rooftops and get in a higher position to track the Orc archers. She darted from the bottom of the cliff to a crumpled wall of the City. Nothing. She still felt a sense of dread, but did not detect any movement. 

She judged her next move cautiously. She could take a leap on to a nearby roof, and defend herself behind an intact turret. With a quick prayer, she bolted for the building and jumped to the rooftop.

One of the Orc archers had come back. He was waiting for her for his rooftop perch, but he was expecting a Dwarf and her speed caught him by surprise. He reacted too slowly and what should have been a fatal shot only struck Rhavaniel in the foot.   
She collapsed on the rooftop with a shriek of pain. 

The arrow had pierced her foot. The entry mark on her boot was covered in black tar - poison. It would not kill her, but it could certainly slow her down. She broke the arrow short with her knife and pulled it the rest of the way through her foot, suppressing another scream. Her foot was already too swollen to remove her boot, so she frantically cut the boot off and bound the wound. 

She jumped into the turret, and prepared her bow. She turned to look for the Orc that shot her. He was smart and cautious, circling around to approach her from behind. But Rhavaniel had already heard the crunch of gravel behind her as the Orc leaped to the other building. She was ready for him. As soon as he looked around the corner, she finished him with a shot to the head. She heaved a sigh of relief. One archer down, eleven arrows left. Still a good trade.


	53. Reunited

Kili raced through the ruined streets of Dale. He heard the sound of toppling stones, and the shriek of an Orc. He followed the noise around a corner, to discover that a lone Orc scout had been crushed under a collapsed building wall. This scene had the hallmarks of a typical Dwarf trap. Dwarves preferred the honor of hand-to-hand combat, but when they had time and control of their tempers, they were able to put their mining skills to great use. Dwarves were masters at mechanical elements, levers and pulleys. With the right tools, a Dwarf could collapse any structure exactly where he needed it to land. 

Where was the Dwarf who set this trap? Had it been triggered by the action of the Orc alone? Kili would have to tread carefully.

Kili heard a groan above him, and climbed the short wall to the rooftop. He was rewarded with the welcome sight of a Dwarf from the Company. It was Ori. The decrepit state of the building had caused Ori to lose his footing when he pushed the piece of wall onto the unfortunate Orc scout, and Ori himself had been hit with a stone. Now, Ori was slowly regaining consciousness. 

Ori awoke and looked up into Kili's face. "I have gone to the other side! Hello, Kili. It is so good to see you again, though I was expecting Grandpa, actually." 

Kili grinned, "You are not in the Great Halls of Mahal yet, my friend." 

He grabbed Ori by the coat and pulled him up. 

Ori was dazed, "You mean there is a test? No one prepared me for that!"

Kili hurried with Ori to the corner of the rooftop and asked, "Where do you need the Orcs to go for the next trap?"

Ori pointed, "Over there - that alley. Bofur and Bifur will pull the lines on a larger avalanche." 

Kili jumped over the alley to the next rooftop for a better look. A still disoriented Ori waited, then turned and spotted Thorin and Fili at the end of the block. 

"Look who I found!" Ori shouted with an excited wave. 

Thorin and Fili turned to see a lone Ori, Kili having already disappeared from sight. 

"What is that fool boy doing drawing attention to himself?" Thorin snapped. "Nori, get after your brother!"

Kili spotted a sizeable group of Orcs. He called back at Ori, "How is the next trap triggered? I don't want to set it off myself."

"Come back here!" Ori called out.

Kili jumped back and Ori was able to give Kili a quick synopsis of the Dwarf plan. 

"We need to channel them to any one of three alleys." Ori pointed to building walls weakened to collapse. "Bofur and Bifur have the nearest, Bombur is next, by himself, and Óin and Gloin are teamed up on the West alley. Dwalin and Balin are on the other side of the traps to finish off those that come through. Thorin and Fili will be joining them soon, since Nori and Dori's trap has already sprung. My little trap was just a diversion, you see." 

The Dwarves had no idea that Kili and Rhavaniel had prevented the flanking maneuver that would have caught the heirs of Durin on the wrong side of the first trap.

Kili could see that the Orcs had become hesitant. They sent a lone snaga down the alley with Bofur and Bifur's trap. 

"The Orcs are too spread out. They won't get enough of them with the trap." Kili told Ori. 

Kili took a chance and shot the snaga with an arrow, then jumped over the alley along the rooftops. The Orcs pursued him. 

Bofur and Bifur were shocked to see Kili racing toward them on the rooftops. Kili signaled them to be ready, then turned and shot a pursuing Warg. He next jumped down to the alley, as if he had fallen, and limped through the trap.

A large, clustered group of Orcs followed Kili, and Bofur and Bifur were able to spring their avalanche. A piece of wall the size of a city block collapsed on the Orcs with a roar and a rumble.

Safe on the other side, Kili ducked just in time to avoid an ax blow from Nori. Nori and Dori had been in place to attack any Orc that got past that trap. They certainly were not expecting a Dwarf to leap through the cloud of dust. The brothers were overjoyed to see Kili alive.

"We thought you were dead! Where have you been?" Nori asked him.

"No time!" Kili told them. "You have to make sure they are all dead, and check on Bombur. I have to get back to the east side, under the old bell tower. The Orcs have tried to take the bell tower on the cliff and flank you twice from that side. Your defenses are weakest there. Focus on these traps and send reinforcements when you can." 

Kili knew they Dwarves' defenses were spread too thin, and feared Rhavaniel would be discovered even if she did stay hidden. Kili turned and ran down the main street of Dale, missing sight of Thorin and Fili by one slender wall.


	54. Counter Attack

Thorin and Fili caught up to Dori and Nori, after killing the last of the Orc stragglers on the eastern-most trap.

Dori looked up from the grim duty of searching through rubble for any still-breathing Orcs, "Did you see Kili?"

"He needs support on the east flank." Nori told them, "by the bell tower cliff. We've got them broken here, just picking off the stragglers. Go!"

Thorin was incredulous, "You saw _Kili_?"

Dori squinted at him, "How did you _not_ see Kili? He ran your way. "

Thorin and Fili turned and ran back the way they came.

Thorin would not allow himself to trust in any eyes but his own.

"Fili," he cautioned, "I have seen this before. Men see things on the battlefield - ghosts, visions, walking dreams - they believe what they see and what they say, but they may be wrong."

"They are not wrong." Fili smiled broadly. "I know Kili is alive, that little sneak."

Thorin and Fili were nearly clear of the buildings, and finally able to see that a few Orcs were attempting to come down the bell tower cliff, using spikes and ropes. They could also see that an archer was targeting the Orcs coming down the cliff.

Fili pointed, "Need any more proof?"

Dwalin soon joined them from a southern alley. "Did you hear?"

"About Kili?" Thorin said, "We heard, but have not seen anything, except that there is an archer on that roof."

Dwalin took a second look. "There are two archers on that roof." He could see that while one archer was targeting the dwindling number of Orcs on the cliff, a second archer was engaged in a duel with an Orc archer on the next building.

Fili put the pieces together, "Two arrows this morning - for two people in that bell tower last night! One of them was Kili!"

More Orcs were coming around on foot from the cliff side. The three Dwarves had no choice but to fight their way to the building, gaining the upper hand and sending the last Orcs on the run.

Thorin turned to Fili "Dwalin and I will go after them, and take down that last Orc archer. You will stay here and find your brother."

Dwalin and Thorin pursued the Orcs as they fled. Other Dwarves of the Company were winding up their kills and routing the few survivors. Thorin nodded to Dwalin, and he split off, to climb a rooftop. Dwalin quickly discovered the Uruk-Hai bowman that had Kili and the other archer pinned down.

 _'At last, a worthy opponent.'_ Dwalin thought. He threw a knife at the big Orc's head, and took off its left ear in a spurt of blood and great flap of dangling flesh. The Orc roared in rage and threw down his bow. He was also ready for a good fight.

(************)

Thorin and the reassembling Company relentlessly pursued the few faltering Orcs to the southern edge of Dale.

To their shock, they found mounted Elf Guards at the City's edge. The Elves were also clearly surprised at showing up at the end of someone else's fight, but handled the task at hand with deadly efficiency. It was the Elves who had the privilege of finishing off the half dozen Orcs.

Thorin bade his men to halt and regroup. This was a shocking turn of events. They were in no position to confront Thranduil's Elves. The Dwarves had gone from victory to frantic retreat themselves in a few brief seconds - because of Elves.


	55. Don't Let Your Guard Down

Fili looked around at the fallen Orcs, all of them east of where the Company had been fighting. No more Orcs were coming down the cliff from the old bell tower. The Orc archer that Thorin and Dwalin had promised to remove fired no more. This part of the ruined City had become quiet and still.

Fili hooted the call he and Kili had used since childhood. His heart was filled with joy when he heard the familiar sound of Kili returning his call. Fili noticed that this time, the owl hoot was accompanied by the coo of a dove. 

File raced past the last building standing, following the sound of Kili's call. Fili arrived to see Kili emerge from behind what looked like crumpled bells, carrying a sword in one hand and a wooden box in the other. 

No words needed to be spoken between the brothers, relieved to see each other once more. Fili embraced his little brother. 

Kili asked, "Uncle Thorin?"

"Yes!" Fili assured him "Everyone is here. Only Gandalf has not rejoined us." 

"I did not come alone, brother. My friend is hurt." Kili gestured with the box to an abandoned building. 

"Let me find Óin then." Fili offered, "I will be right back."

Fili ran down the central street of Dale, only to meet all the Dwarves running back at him. Thorin's face was stern. "Elves have arrived. Prepare for another attack!" and then with softer look. "Did you find Kili?"

"Yes, he is alive, but his friend is wounded. We need Óin right away to the building nearest to the bell tower." 

Dwalin joined them, fresh from defeating the archer Orc. 

Thorin counted them all up, "We will rally at that building, then. We should all be together. Dwalin, pick up Bilbo and follow as soon as you can. Fili, see if you can tell how many Elves are outside the City, but keep low and come back quickly."

Thorin and Company ran to the last building standing in the east, where they found Kili kneeling beside a small, black-haired Elf. 

(*****)

Kili handed Rhavaniel a water skin, "They are alive! All of them, and they have the Orcs on the run. Fili will be back soon with our medic."

Rhavaniel drank deeply, and pulled her sword partially out of the sheath - the glow was fading. "Good." she smiled at him tiredly.

Kili looked up and saw the rest of the Company arrive, with his Uncle Thorin in the lead. 

Rhavaniel squeezed his hand, and then released it, "Go, I will be fine."

Kili ran to his friends and kinsmen, and embraced them all. Thorin handed him back his knife, which he had been carrying all of these days, taking it as proof that Kili was dead. Thorin did not need to explain, for Kili understood what they must have thought when they found it. 

Rhavaniel looked on, happy for Kili. She did not hear the footsteps behind her. By the time she sensed she was being watched, it was too late. She reached for her sword, but a large hand grabbed her by the throat and snatched her up off the ground.


	56. Perceptions

"Dwalin!" Bilbo shouted, "No! Put her down!"

Dwalin had retrieved Bilbo from his hiding place, and the two of them had come around the opposite side of the Dwarves' rendezvous building. When Dwalin spotted an Elf, his first instinct was to fight.

Kili turned to see Dwalin drop Rhavaniel. She crumpled to the ground.

Kili rushed to her side and shoved Dwalin away. "What did you do?!"

"Knocked her head against the wall! What was I supposed to do? She went for her sword! I'd have run her through if Bilbo hadn't been screaming at me."

"She helped us!" Kili dropped to the ground to hold Rhavaniel, "She's been fighting for us all day and she was wounded! How could you not see that? Óin, help her. Rhavi! Rhavi! Wake up!"

Rhavaniel's eyelids fluttered. She inhaled deeply and awoke with a start. She saw herself surrounded by strangers, with Dwalin towering over her. She shrunk back and Kili grabbed her and held her in his arms.

Óin reached out gently, "Oh, little Elf, be still. Let us look at you."

Rhavaniel shrunk back further into Kili, "No!"

Kili tried to reassure her, "Rhavi, this is Óin. I told you about him. He will take care of you."

Kili turned to Óin, "It is her foot - the arrow was poison. I have an Elf medicinal pack, but the miruvor is already gone! She used all of the best supplies on me."

Óin looked at the supplies taken from the Elf watchtower. "I'm not sure what these are. I can drain the wound and apply a poultice. That will help as well as anything else at this stage. Do we have any of the poisoned arrows?"

Rhavaniel decided that if Kili trusted Óin, she could trust him. "The one that hit me is on the roof. The Orc who shot it is dead over there." and she pointed to a nearby corpse. "There is another very good archer nearby, also with poison arrows."

"Not anymore." Dwalin said, and patted a long gray ear tucked into his belt.

Rhavaniel turned her head and vomited. The poison had made her queasy, but the sight of the ear sent her over the edge.

"Excuse me." she whispered. Kili handed her more water.

Nori retrieved the quiver of poisoned arrows from the dead Orc and brought it to Óin.

Óin looked and sniffed, "Nightshade, ergot, metopium." He looked at Rhavaniel's foot. The telltale black spider web of Orc poison was there, but small. "Either you received a very small dose, or you are fighting it well."

Rhavaniel showed him a tool in the Elf box, "We use this for draining poisonous bites. Will it help?"

Óin nodded in recognition, "Oh, I have used similar. This will do nicely. May hurt a bit, but it will help immensely."

Thorin took an account of the Dwarves. All were there except Fili, who was hastily returning. Fili pushed through the crowded circle of Dwarves, to find Kili and Thorin, and the mysterious wounded companion.

Fili was taken aback. "That is Kili's friend?" he asked. He had expected a wayward Dwarf from the Iron Hills, or perhaps some adventurous young man from Lake-Town, but certainly not an Elf. A girl Elf, no less.

Thorin was focused on more urgent matters, "What news, Fili?"

Fili did not take his eyes off his brother as Kili watched Óin treat the girl, "A score of Elves are assembled at the southern side of Dale. They have finished off the Orcs, but have not entered the City. They... "

Rhavaniel cut Fili off, "Did they hurt my Warg? He is black with a white chest and burn scars on this neck."

Fili felt his world become even stranger, "I...I do not know."

"He was not with those Orcs, not really." Rhavaniel explained, "He must have fallen in with them very recently for protection. He was all alone."

Kili spoke comfortingly to her, "I am sure he got away. Nothing can kill that brute. Do not worry."

Thorin grew testy, "About the Elves, Fili."

"Right. They seem to be a scouting party, only a dozen and lightly supplied. Their horses are tired. They are milling about. I think they expected to beat everyone here and now do not know what to do with themselves."

Nori shook his head, "We sprung all but two of our traps on the Orcs, not that an Elf would fall for one. No Elf would walk down an alley in this City, not when they can dance on rooftops and keep high ground."

Thorin sighed, "Then we run." He approached his nephew, " Óin, Kili, hurry. We have to go."

"Yes, Uncle." and Kili began to pick up Rhavaniel.

Thorin snapped, "Leave her."

"What? No!" Kili protested.

Thorin was quickly losing patience with his distracted group, "Elves are about to attack us! We are not going to slow ourselves down with one of their wounded. Besides, they will be desperate to get her back. How did she become separated from the rest of the Guard?"

Kili tried to explain, "She is not in the Guard. She has been with me since the day I crawled out of that ravine above Laketown. I think her guardians are only now realizing she is not at school - no one is looking for her."

"School?" Thorin took a long, intense look at Rhavaniel. "How old is this girl?"

They replied in unison - Rhavaniel said , "Ninety-six." while Kili spoke, "Forty-eight."

Kili shot Rhavaniel a scolding look, "She is forty-eight, very nearly a grown Elf."

Thorin grabbed Kili by the coat and pulled him aside. "I cannot _imagine_ what you were thinking dragging an Elf child across three Kingdoms!" he hissed.

Kili protested, "I didn't.....We were running for our lives the entire time. I tried to send her back to her people the first chance I had. You do not understand. There are other Orcs out there - the ones we hear stories about. They only want to take you alive. We've _seen_ it, we've seen what they do."

Thorin took Kili's face in his hands. "I am so sorry we lost you. I regret that you must have suffered. But Kili, Glóin has a daughter that age. If she had been alone with a male Elf, even a male Dwarf, for that long in the wilderness, Glóin would expect nothing less than that boy's head on a pike. As his Prince, I would tell him he was entitled to it. Do you understand me? Elves will think she was kidnapped. They assume the worst of us, always. This is very serious."

Kili turned pale. He had not thought far enough ahead to imagine how Dwarves would look upon any female not chaperoned by a family member. Elves were certainly more liberal with respect to girls, but what if her family also thought she had shamed them, or punished her for helping him? What if they mistakenly assumed she had helped all of the Dwarves escape the Keep? They could imprison her, or worse. They had been too young and naive to think about these things.

Kili swallowed hard, "What would Glóin do to his daughter?"

"I do not know - that would be a family matter." Thorin was frustrated that Kili was missing the point, "My concern is for you and the honor of our family."

Rhavaniel could not make out the words, but she knew Kili and his Uncle were having a tense conversation.

"Perhaps you could talk to these Elves, and agree to make no hostile gestures for the day?" Rhavaniel called to them.

Thorin was clearly irritated at the interruption, but Kili saw the value in it.

"Uncle, let us at least talk to the Elves."

Thorin dismissed the idea, "They will overrun us."

"Use a white arrow.' Rhavaniel explained, "They will know it came from an Elf and honor it. The ribbons are in my quiver."

Óin was finishing a tight wrapping on her foot.

Kili stood his ground in front of Thorin, "Do we need time more than the Elves do? Because we can buy it cheap."

Fili interjected, "They are outside the City. We should keep it that way with no bloodshed for as long as we can. We are all exhausted, Uncle."

Thorin grudgingly agreed. "Let them know we would talk."

Kili scooped a handful of ribbons from Rhavaniel. "The white one is for a truce, to discuss terms. You can tie knots in it, one for each hour to wait before the talk." They turned to Thorin, and he held up three fingers. "If followed by a yellow ribbon, they are asking if they can bring peace-tied weapons. There are Orcs nearby, so that is probably a good idea. Actually, you should send the yellow arrow before they do. They will take it as proof you know this code - proof an Elf trusted you enough to teach it."

"Good." Kili told her, "Fili and I will go. Óin, will you stay with her?"

Óin nodded, "Of course."

"So will I." promised Bilbo.

Once Fili and Kili left, Óin turned his attention back to Rhavaniel, "Let's look at the rest of you." He noticed the older wounds on her left hand and arm, and her recently bruised and scraped face. "No need to stitch anything. Your eyes look fine."

Rhavaniel gestured, "The back of my head...."

"Yes, let's see Dwalin's handiwork. Barely bleeding, no stitches required. You are getting soft in your old age, Dwalin."

Dwalin grunted in reply.

Óin looked at her carefully, "A few words of advice, child. You should speak to a Prince only when spoken to. And you should certainly _never_ lie to him. Do you understand?"

Rhavaniel nodded in silent understanding.


	57. Interrogation

"My name is Rhavaniel Mordemirdanian." she smiled and bowed her head to Óin. "You may call me Rhavi. Thank you for your help." 

Bilbo was the first to respond to a proper introduction, "Bilbo Baggins..." 

"....of the Shire," she finished his sentence, excitedly, "I have heard so much about you." 

Kili had told her about everyone in the Company, including Hobbits. 

"And it is good to finally meet you." Bilbo smiled. It was pleasant to speak to someone he could only watch all those weeks at Mirkwood. 

"Are you hungry?" Bilbo asked.

"Starving, actually." Rhavaniel admitted, "But do you have enough supplies for yourselves?"

Bilbo handed her cram prepared with dried berries, "We have some. This is not as good as lembas bread, I'm afraid."

Rhavaniel bit in and chewed, "This is wonderful."

The remaining Dwarves approached with a mix of trepidation and curiosity, except for Dwalin. Rhavaniel politely introduced herself to all.

Thorin paced, observing Óin as he finished patching up Rhavaniel. "Óin, you have others to tend to, yes?"

Óin nodded, and turned his attention to Ori's nasty head bump.

Thorin approached and sat on a stone bench to better look Rhavaniel in the eyes. 

"What do you know of these Elf Guards who pursue us?"

"Nothing, Sir." Rhavaniel recognized that she was in the presence someone who commanded respect. "I know King Thranduil sent many troops in pursuit of you, but I thought they would not pursue you at all beyond the border of Mirkwood. That is what I overheard from my elders, at least."

Thorin continued, "And you thought there was no danger, alone in the woods, knowing thirteen Dwarves escaped from Thranduil's Keep?"

"I was exploring the Woods near Lake-Town, as I often do. It is beautiful there, and safer than Mirkwood, or so I believed. I was not afraid of anything until I saw an Orc for the first time." 

"Who are your people?" Thorin asked, "Do you have kin in the Guard?"

"I am Avarin by birth, but I was given to live with a family of Silvan blacksmiths as a baby. " she explained. "I know most of the Guards from my apprenticeship at the forge - I make arrows for them. But they are not kin, Sir, and they were not sent to look for me. My people would not know I am gone."

"You have Guard items." Thorin pointing to the contents of the packs she and Kili carried, now spread out around her. 

Rhavaniel kept to Óin's advice, "The rain cloak was old and about to be discarded. A Guard gave it to me instead, and I gave it to Kili. I took the medicinal kit and many other supplies without permission from an Elf Guard Watchtower. My sword..." Thorin used this opportunity to take it from her, "is from a fallen Guard named Glennodad. He was taken by Orcs. They turned him into one of theirs, and I killed him with his own sword five days later." 

Rhavaniel's eyes welled with tears at the memory, but she refused to cry. 

Thorin could tell that she was not lying. 

Thorin was nearly finished, "My nephew carries his own bow, that he made for himself. It was last seen locked up in an Elf dungeon. How do you explain that?"

Rhavaniel swallowed hard, "I took it from the Keep, without permission, to study it. I would have returned it, but when I saw Kili in the woods, it was clear that Ilúvatar wanted it to go back to its rightful owner. Do you not take that as a sign, Sir, that we found each other?"

"I am a strong believer in signs. I am much older than you, and have seen many. I am quite good at discerning encouragements from warnings. " Thorin stood up. 

Fili came running back to them. He turned to Rhavaniel, out of breath, "White, yellow, and dark blue all strung together. What does that mean?"

Rhavaniel explained, "They will talk, with peace-tied weapons, but they ask that you wait for nightfall." She reached into her quiver. "Use the blue if your Uncle agrees, otherwise send another white ribbon. Since you reached out first, they must abide by your chosen time."

Thorin fumed, "They are stalling us until the rest of their troops arrive! Fili, send a blue ribbon. At least we know how much time we have to rest before we must leave."


	58. Weary

Kili returned to the Dwarves' impromptu base of operations. Fili had remained on the south entrance of Dale to keep watch on the Elves, to ensure they honored the truce. Kili had not wanted to leave Fili's side, but Fili insisted that Kili go back to eat and rest.

Rhavaniel was sitting on a bench, sharing a jar of honey with Bilbo and a few of the less suspicious Dwarves. Her bandaged foot was propped up.

"We have a bit of time, thanks to your idea." Kili told her as he joined her on the bench, eager to enjoy some cram with their bilberry jam.

"You have met everyone now?" he asked.

"Yes." Rhavaniel said, "Except for the large scowling one over there." and she nodded toward Dwalin.

"Dwalin. Let's wait on that." Kili frowned "He does not look ready to apologize, and I expect nothing less."

"Have you not spoken to him yourself?" Rhavaniel asked with concern. "Everyone else has had a chance to see you and tell you how happy they are that you are back. Please do not exclude Mister Dwalin on my account. He need not apologize. Worse things happen in the confusion of battle, I am sure. Nori said he nearly decapitated you this very morning."

"And Nori apologized." Kili countered.

"Rhavaniel is right, Kili." Bilbo said gently. "Dwalin took it very hard when they thought you were gone forever."

"I will speak to him after lunch." Kili agreed grudgingly.

"What do all of those tattoos mean?" Rhavaniel asked. "Is he of a different tribe of Dwarves, that his skin is marked?"

Kili smiled, "No, Dwalin is Longbeard like the rest of us. He has fought for my family his whole life, and when we Heirs of Durin are not at war, he has been a sword for hire. Warriors of such devotion like to mark themselves after each battle. It tells their story, and honors fallen friends. Uncle Thorin has tattoos as well, just not on his face."

"I expect to get a tattoo after this quest." Ori offered. "I am already sketching a few design ideas." and he pulled out his scrolls to show them.

Kili laughed, "We will probably all get that tattoo of Smaug! You have good ideas, Ori."

"Does that not hurt?" Rhavaniel asked with concern.

"That big one across the chest looks painful." said Bilbo, as he and Rhavaniel looked on wincingly.

"Do Elves tattoo themselves?" Ori asked.

"No." Rhavaniel said. "But the Avari tribes pierce their ears, starting when they are little ones in their twenties . I want to have mine pierced but my Silvan family insists I must wait until I am fifty. I already have some lovely ear trinkets saved in anticipation."

"I do not like that idea!" Kili said. "Your ears are too pretty to mar on purpose."

"Maybe I do not like the idea of you getting a tattoo." she replied archly.

Kili harrumphed. This conversation was drawing curious looks from his companions. Thorin was approaching them, and Kili feared that the uninhibited Rhavaniel might actually ask to see his tattoos. That would not go over well.

Óin spoke up, "I have not looked at you properly, Kili. Were you even scratched by those poisoned arrows?"

"No, Óin, I am well." happy for the change of subject, Kili wolfed down another bite of food, and took off his coat. The bandages on his back were itching. Kili was a rare Dwarf, with arms long enough to reach his back, and he scratched at them.

Rhavaniel gently scolded him, "Do not disturb the strips! They will fall off on their own in a few more days."

Thorin took note, "What is this she speaks of?"

Kili was evasive, "Just a few scratches." and began to put his coat back on.

Thorin pulled up his nephew's shirt tail, to reveal the whip marks on his back. They crisscrossed all the way up to his shoulders.

"Who did this to you?" Thorin demanded.

Kili looked down, "The Orcs that were not Azog's caught me. I made a foolish mistake. I told Rhavaniel to go look for water instead of stand watch, and they took me by surprise. It won't happen again."

Rhavaniel turned to Óin, "He lost a frightening amount of blood, but the miruvor helped." The Dwarves were all silent, upset, and angry. She had the disturbing feeling that some of them were angry at _her_ , and she wished she could shrink out of their sight.

Thorin despaired that Kili felt so ashamed, when it was Thorin who had failed to protect the boy. He was concerned that Kili had tried to hide this - and perhaps other crucial details - of what happened to him. ' _This secrecy is the influence of the Elf, no doubt.'_ he thought.

Thorin wanted to question him further, but realized Kili must be tired and hungry.

"I want you to eat and rest. Half of us will sleep now, including you. We will talk when you wake. Her too." and Thorin pointed to Rhavaniel.

Kili and Rhavaniel looked at each other awkwardly.

"What is the problem?" Thorin snapped at them, "Sleep in the shade over there, where the rest of us can keep an eye on you."

Kili replied hesitantly. "We only have the one bedroll between us."

Thorin's face turned red.

Rhavaniel broke the rule of waiting to be spoken to and said nonchalantly, "We took turns standing watch and sleeping. One bedroll was certainly enough until now."

Kili was grateful that one of them had the survival skill of lying on the spot.

Thorin did not look as satisfied as they had hoped he would be with this explanation. He grabbed the Elf bedroll and threw it at Rhavaniel.

He told Kili, "We still have a bedroll for you. Ori will fetch it."

Thorin stormed off to look at the Elf activity south of the City for himself, and relieve Fili on watch.

"Opposite ends of the wall!" He warned them as he walked away.

Ori retrieved a bedroll for Kili. The Dwarves split in half, with those most tired and bruised taking the first few hours of afternoon sleep. Several went inside the ruined building for better blocking of the sun. Kili and Rhavaniel saw the look from Dwalin, and realized they would be expected to stay in the open.

They laid down and alongside the building wall, in the shade, and several feet apart.

Rhavaniel whispered. "I think your Uncle does _not_ like me."

Kili had to admit the facts at hand, "He does not like Elves. You have the burden of all the wrongs done to him by Elves on your little shoulders right now. It will be better once he gets to know you."

Rhavaniel had doubts. "Patience and a good heart will earn trust. But I fear that time is not on our side."

Kili hesitated. "I need to ask you - how upset would your people be if you brought a Dwarf home to meet them? Even if they believed nothing happened between us, would they be angry with you?"

Rhavaniel gave the question thought, "They would certainly be angry that I was gone so long. I don't know how they would react to the rest. No one has ever done anything like this, at least not that I was ever told. Have I made your family angry with you? If I have, I am sorry."

Kili sighed out his frustration, "This is not your fault. Dwarves are very conservative, and honor is everything - it is all that we have, most days. If Elves choose to say I stole you away and mistreated you, it would bring shame to my entire family. As head of the family, Uncle Thorin would be expected to put it right. I think he is afraid of what he might be asked to do."

Rhavaniel was aghast, "I will tell them all what happened - that you rescued me and tried to send me home."

"I am not sure the truth matters." Kili warned her. "It seems old wounds want to be reopened."

"What are we going to tell your Uncle later?"

"Everything. Everything except what is private between us. I would not deny you, or how I feel about you, but this is not the time. And don't tell him about what we found in the mere. I don't want him to know I can swim."

"Agreed." she hesitated and then asked tentatively, "Should we tell him I set fire to the Watchtower?"

Kili groaned, "Yes. He will be upset because I was a part of that, but it set so many events in motion."

Kili heard Rhavaniel sobbing. "What is wrong?"

"I had not thought before - if I had not set that fire, Glennodad and Vehiron would not have come looking for the cause. They would not have been caught and tortured, body and soul, until they lost themselves."

"That is not true. Those Orcs were hunting Elves and they would have found some - they had already found some, Rhavaniel, and I should have told you that sooner. We didn't do anything wrong. We did betray anyone. We made a choice to fight for our lives, which is our right. Our fate was to survive, because Ilúvatar had plans for us."

Rhavaniel sniffed, "I know you are right. That does not make it any easier it this very moment."

Kili and Rhavaniel spoke softly for a few more moments, then Kili realized it was Rhavaniel who fell asleep while talking, instead of him. He was relieved - now he could sleep peacefully knowing she was not into some mischief.


	59. Tea Time

Fili gently nudged Kili awake, "Come brother, get some stew."

Kili shook off the sleep. It was late afternoon. Kili glanced across the grass and saw Rhavaniel still sound asleep in her bedroll. That was truly a surprise. It was so surprising, Kili became concerned and rushed over to check on her.

Rhavaniel's skin was dark and warm, and her pulse was the typical Elf flutter. She woke with a yawn, blinked at Kili, and pulled the covers over her head.

Kili laughed. "Get up, lazy bones. We have work to do." He was thinking of all the arrows they were going to have to collect and repair.

"Noooooo." Rhavaniel protested. "Wait, is that food cooking?"

"Yes." Kili told her. "Get up and fight for a share of it like the Dwarf-in-disguise that you are."

Rhavaniel wordlessly jumped out of her bedroll, and limped off to the Dwarf assembly.

Fili came up beside Kili and put an arm around his shoulder.

"Enjoying being the older brother for a change?" Fili asked.

Kili blushed. He felt both relief and guilt that Fili did not understand the nature of his relationship with Rhavaniel. He wished he could talk to his older brother about her, but did not begin to know how. ' _Now I am the one afraid to share the burden of my truths.'_

"Come on." Fili urged, "Let's get a hot meal."

Bombur had prepared a beggar's stew, consisting of all the leftovers they had between them.

"We cleaned the two of you out of petty-dwarf roots." Bilbo told Kili and Rhavaniel.

"Glad to share." Kili replied. He sat beside Rhavaniel. "Are you well? You hardly slept when we first met, and now you sleep nearly as much as I do."

Rhavaniel shrugged, "I feel fine. It is not the poison. We elves just need more sleep when we are growing." She smiled mischievously, "I warned you - blink and I may grow even taller."

"I am afraid we have also finished off your honey." Bilbo informed them as he handed them mugs of tea.

"Thank you, Mister Boggins." Rhavaniel smiled. "It is a shame we lost our fishing lines. A trout would do nicely in this stew, and there seem to be so many of them below us."

The Dwarves all stared at her silently. Rhavaniel put down her bowl and hobbled toward the cliff. At the edge of the ancient unused street, she pulled thin sod up to reveal a drainage gate.

"Here." she said, "Spring run-off from the mountain comes in here. I saw the indentations earlier today, and heard the fish jumping. Good sized fish, not cavefish."

The rest of the Dwarves rushed to dig out and lift the grate. They lowered Bofur with a lamp, and there was indeed an underground waterway. A few fish even seemed to jump at the lamp light.

Bofur grinned up at them, "We've got fishing lines."


	60. Hard Lessons

Dori and Nori replaced Thorin and Dwalin, keeping watch on the Elf Guard just south of Dale.

"Get some sleep." Dori begged them. "It has been a long night and day, and no telling what new obstacles await us."

Thorin sighed, "That is why I cannot sleep, my friend."

As they walked back to their camp, Dwalin asked, "What are we going to do about that Elf?"

Thorin grimaced, "I do not want her with us a moment longer. I would give her back to her people now, if I trusted that she would not tell lies against Kili. I am weighing the risks for every turn."

"What turns do you not consider?"

"The same ones you would not consider. We both know we will not harm a child."

Thorin and Dwalin approached a jovial group of Dwarves, clustered around Bombur's stew pot and a hole in the ground at the edge of the street.

The group cheered as Bofur pulled out yet another enormous fish.

"They've gotten big in the last hundred years!"

Thorin smiled at them, glad to see that they were rested and finding supplies.

Rhavaniel and Kili were contentedly sharing a bench and a bowl of stew.

Thorin observed Kili's gaze on Rhavaniel, and his smile stopped. Thorin recognized the kind of glances he himself had passed in his younger days, when he was a Prince Under the Mountain and the future was bright. The burdens of responsibility has swept away those looks a long time ago.

Thorin strode up to Kili, said a curt, "I would speak with you now." and walked away.

Kili put down his food and followed his Uncle to a central square of the City, away from sight and hearing of the others.

Thorin began, "I want you to tell me _everything_ that happened to you while you were separated from us."

Kili explained all - from being discovered by Rhavaniel - who miraculously had his bow - to the supplies she put together for him at the Elf Watchtower. He told of the necessity of setting the Watchtower on fire, and every encounter with this new tribe of Orcs that he and Rhavaniel had come to call the Birdclaws. He explained how he had saved Rhavaniel from Orcs and she had saved him in return. He told how they had spared the life of a Warg, and the beast returned the favor. He mentioned finding shelter under the hills, and having to flee underground to a mere. He explained the accident of the bell in the Tower, and how they had agonized on what do to next, and the fierce fighting they had done that very day to be reunited with the Company.

Kili left out only three details - that he could swim, that Rhavaniel could read Dwarf runes, and that the two of them had been intimate. The consequences of those three facts were of escalating seriousness. Kili hated keeping such secrets from his Uncle. He wanted his Uncle's advice more than anything, but he dared not ask. They had the Quest to think about. Kili could help, or he could be a burden to his Uncle by the decisions he made next.

Thorin thought long and hard about all that he heard. The information was valuable. The Orcs that Kili described were more of a threat to Thranduil's Kingdom than Azog. This could be what he needed to bargain with - a greater threat to keep the Elves away from Erebor.

Thorin made a decision, "We are not going to run before dark. We will stay for the parlay with the Elves. I want Thranduil to know that his people are being picked off and turned to Orcs, which is not surprising, the way he rules his Kingdom. I can remember when Mirkwood was still called Greenwood. The land was beautiful, bountiful, and safe. His lands have died a bit every day since his betrayal of my Grandfather and he still turns a blind eye. What do you expect of an Elf that sees an entire race of people destroyed and does nothing? It is his due, but his people pay the price."

There was only one other concern Thorin had to deal with. "And then, we give the girl back to her people."

Kili knew that was the likeliest outcome, but he still could not bear the thought of it, "It is not safe to give her back! I told you what happened the last time I tried!"

Thorin was unmoved, "She will be with a large group of Elves once the rest arrive. The alternative is that we leave her alone in a deserted city, waiting for a second Orcs attack because I can assure you, we are not taking an Elf into Erebor. This is for her own good."  
"It may not be! I am afraid she will be punished just for consorting with Dwarves. She does not deserve that. If her people will not treat her kindly, she needs to stay with me - with us."

"I understand that you want to keep her." Thorin said pointedly, "All the more reason she needs to leave _now_."

Thorin turned to walk away.

Kili implored him, "Please do not ask this. There must be somewhere else she can go, or maybe hide her in the cliffs for a little while. If we just wait for Gandalf to join us, he can think of something. He asked us to wait for him!"

"No!" Thorin practically yelled at Kili, "She is not one of us. I would not have an Elf with us even if she was grown and able to make such decisions of her own. They are a corruption. None of them are to be trusted, especially those who are Thranduil's to command. They would have us remain deprived of our place in the world, without homeland, toiling in the poorest mines while they profit from our labors."

"Uncle, I know the story of every slight done to us, but you are describing the worst of her kind, and she is clearly the best of her kind."

Thorin was unmoved, " _Slight_ does not begin to encompass the betrayal of her very tribe upon our _family_."

"Which happened long before she was born."

"And before you or Fili were born. Sometimes I envy you boys, that you never knew any better life. Your mother lived through that. She lived through being a Princess with luxury beyond the dreams of Rivendell and losing it all. She has worked hard her entire life to keep her children fed. You do not appreciate that. I will not allow you to disrespect her."

Kili was confused, "I am not disrespecting my mother."

"You most certainly are! I have never seen you look at a Dwarf girl the way you look at that Elfling. When did you come to agree with them, that there is no beauty but Elf beauty? You insult your own kind, especially your mother. If I have been remiss in teaching that to you, I will correct it now."


	61. Misunderstandings

Dwalin sat silently across from Rhavaniel as she finished her stew. She was anxious for Kili and his Uncle to return, and growing a bit nervous under Dwalin's stern stare. She decided that she should keep busy rather than wear herself down with worry. She stood up, and Dwalin did as well.

Rhavaniel nodded politely, "Excuse me."

Dwalin stepped in front of her, "Where do you think you're going?"

Rhavaniel did not like being put on the defensive. "I am going to collect arrows from this morning's fight. Kili only has a few left, and I have none. I must salvage what I can."

"Already done." Dwalin nodded to a covered stack. Rhavaniel pulled back the sacking and found many of the three-tipped arrows she made for Kili, plus Orc arrows, but none of Elf design.

Rhavaniel turned to Dwalin, "Thank you, but none of these will work with my bow. I need to keep looking." and she proceeded to the cliff.

The Dwarves had collected Orc bodies while she and Kili slept, and had thrown them down an empty cistern. There was no point in climbing down - there would be no useable arrows in the battered, stinking jumble. She looked along the ground at the base of the cliff - there must be some here.

She explored the crumpled parts of the carillon. She reached down and pulled off a small bell. It was a lovely, delicate silver one, not dented in the fall.

 _'I shall keep this one.'_ she decided, wrapping it with cloth to muffle the ringer.

She glanced up at the cliff. The ropes and hooks that she and Kili had used to repel down were still in place. Rhavaniel had spent may arrows on top of the cliff that very morning. The ground should be fairly littered with dead Orcs and arrows. She might as well try. She reached for a rope.

Dwalin stopped her, "Hold! You are not leaving."

"I have no arrows unless I go up there. I have no sword, since your Prince Thorin took mine. How do you expect me to defend myself? I will be up and down again before the fishes are cooked."

(********************)

Balin was the one who interrupted Thorin and Kili, "Best come quick, there's trouble on the cliff."

Thorin and Kili raced back to find the Dwarves and Bilbo congregated at the cliff base, below the ropes. They were yelling over each other with instructions and warnings and please for sanity.

Rhavaniel was a little more than half way up the cliff, and Dwalin was below her, on Kili's rope line. The two were screaming threats and curses at each other. Dwalin whipped the end of Rhavaniel's rope to jostle her against the cliff, and Rhavaniel threatened to cut Dwalin's rope with her pocket knife.

Dori ran up from the south side of the city, "What is going on? The Elves can see the commotion and they are getting very agitated."

" **STOP**!" Thorin roared. Everyone paused, even Rhavaniel and Dwalin on the ropes.

Fili tried to explain, "Rhavaniel said she needed to go up the cliff to find arrows, and Dwalin thought it was too dangerous."

"That is not what he said!" Rhavaniel's voice wafted down from the cliff.

"It is what he _should_ have said!" Fili shouted upward, aimed at Dwalin.

Kili called up gently, "Rhavi! Fili is right. Come down, please."

Rhavaniel put away her knife and began to lower herself. Dwalin let go of Rhavaniel's rope, but waited for her to draw alongside him before he also climbed down. They repelled those last few dozen feet together in silence and mutual hostility.

When they reached the ground, Dwalin snatched Rhavaniel's bow from her back and smashed it on the rocks. "I said ' _You won't be needing any arrows_ '!"

All the Dwarves and Rhavaniel paused for a moment of collected shock, then Rhavaniel made a completely foolhardy lunge at Dwalin. Kili caught her before she got close enough to land a punch.

Fili ran to Dwalin, "Apologize now!" he hissed.

Dwalin sneered, "Not to a little lul gijak..." he was not able to finish his sentence before Kili struck him.

"Enough!" Thorin pulled the knot of Dwarves apart. "Fili, Balin, mind your brothers, now! Dori, get back to the Elves! See that they are keeping the truce. Óin and Gloin, take the girl away, and do not let her out of your sight."


	62. Difficult Conversations

Bilbo sat with Rhavaniel as the sun began to set. She was sick with shame and regret that she had caused Kili to fight with his kinsmen. Óin and Gloin had hustled her away so quickly, she had not been able to talk to Kili. She had been crying quietly since then. Bilbo brought her some fish, but she did not want to eat.

Bilbo asked kindly, "Is there anything I can do?"

Rhavaniel sniffed, "You can apologize to everyone on my behalf."

Bilbo sighed, "I think they already know. Those that would listen already know."

"What will become of me now?"

"I think you are going back to your people once the sun sets." Bilbo informed her. "You must be homesick. I know I am, most days. This will be for the best."

Rhavaniel nodded. "Will I at least be able to say goodbye to Kili?"

Bilbo doubted it but, "I will see if that can be arranged."

(***************)

Fili gently chided his brother, "Calm down. The girl is fine. No harm done, and no harm to come since she is going home tonight."

Kili paced back and forth, "I do not want her to go! Bad things happen when we lose sight of each other."

"Bad things happen when you two are _in_ sight of each other as well, from what I have witnessed." Fili pointed out. "It is no one's fault, but we cannot have an Elf with us, or a young girl for that matter. She will cause strife, as she did today without even meaning to. We of the Company are a unit. She barely knows how to fight, and certainly not how to fight as a unit. She does not speak our language, and many of us will never trust an Elf. She cannot stay."

"Bilbo was not one of us, but he proved himself!"

Fili nodded, "Aye, he proved himself after months with us. We are only days away from our goal. And you remind me of another point - everyone on this quest has a contract, including Bilbo. The girl does not, and that is a problem. The Company would never agree to give her one."

Kili despaired, "I know that, but there has to be something else that we can do."

"We are doing the best we can by giving her back to her people. Tell me honestly, what is best for that girl? Shouldn't she be safe at home?"

"She does not have a home, not really."

"Brother, everywhere we look, there are signs. Her people have arrived at this exact time and place, and we need the Elves to be gone. How can you not see that Mahal intends for you to give her back?"

"Why would Mahal give me something that precious just to take it away now?"Kili asked.

He sat down and put his head in his hands, "I suppose Uncle Thorin and our parents felt that. Everyone who was alive that had to flee Erebor felt that.... _loss_. I was protected before and did not even know it, because you can't miss what you never knew existed. Could that be what Mahal needed me to see - enough loss that I would not falter on this Quest?"

Fili pondered his brother's dilemma, "I do not know why that Elf was set upon your path, or you upon hers, but your place is with your family, now more than ever before. I know you will do the right thing."

(*************)

Thorin came to talk to Rhavaniel. "Bilbo, Óin, leave us, please."

Bilbo gave her an encouraging smile and a pat on the shoulder as he left.

Once the others were gone, Thorin handed Rhavaniel her empty quiver, pack, and rain cloak. He had even returned her pocket knife. "I believe these are the only items that you did not steal."

She nodded and handed back the cloak, "This was mine to give."

Thorin waved it away, "Dwarves do not take second-hand charity."

She rolled it up and put it in her nearly empty pack. Her moonstone was still tucked inside a pocket. One other item in the pack was not hers - the enamel feather she took from a dead Orc.

"When you go to speak to the Elves, no more than three from each side should attend." she told Thorin, "Take this." handing him the trinket, "It was an Elf trophy one of the Orcs was wearing. The Guards will know it is Avarin. It is a bit of proof of what Kili and I witnessed."

Thorin took it. "I need to thank you. My nephew is convinced that he would not have found us, would not have even survived without your help."

"But you are not convinced." Rhavaniel noted.

"No," Thorin said bluntly, "I am not. Kili was in a very dire situation, but he would have survived on his own. He is smart and strong. Your presence brought a new set of dangers to him. I would say neither thanks nor blame should be laid, but I will err on the side of graciousness and say 'thank you'."

"I am sure King Thranduil himself could not muster a more gracious gesture." she replied with equal coldness.

Thorin let the insinuation go. "I hold you no ill will, but I will not tolerate your presence among us. My nephew is very important to me. I take this opportunity before you leave to warn you, you will not be spreading lies about Kili when you return home."

Rhavaniel reddened, "I would not! Why would you even suggest such a thing?"

Thorin stared her down, "Because you are a sad little orphan, starving for attention. I think that for you, being terrorized by Orcs was a small price to pay for the longest amount of devoted time anyone has ever spent with you."

Rhavaniel felt the breath leave her body, like a kick to the chest. The ugliest part was that she suspected it was mostly true.

Thorin was not done, "Now that you have developed a taste for attention, I find it very easy to believe you would tell any lie you could think of to get more if it. Telling stories about bad Dwarves would gain you a great deal of attention. I warn you - do not try it. You will not be believed."


	63. Parlay

Thorin proceeded to the meeting with Fili and Kili in tow. The lookouts had already informed him that the main group of Elves had arrived, and joined with the original Elf Guards who had agreed to the parlay.

Thorin looked sternly at Kili, "I will do the talking. Speak only when I tell you to."

They met in the square of four arrows, south of the City of Dale, as night fell. The Elves had set up torches to light the meeting. The Elf contingent consisted of Prince Legolas, Tauriel, and a senior Elf Guard officer named Adanion.

Thorin greeted them, "We bring important news of the Woodland Realm."

"Prison break." Legolas responded dryly, "Yes, you are still the talk of the town."

"I speak of something far more relevant to your people." Thorin handed Legolas the enamel feather. "One of my Company took this trophy off a dead Orc, nine days past. When was the last time you heard from your Avari subjects beyond your high walls?"

If Legolas was concerned, he did not show it.

Thorin played the next card. "Are you missing two Guards sent out to investigate a forest fire? Glennodad and Vehiron?" Thorin then unwrapped and offered Glennodad's sword. "They are dead."

The Elves took the gesture as a threat, and their hands reached for weapons.

Thorin laid down the sword and held up both hands in a gesture of peace, "My people did not cross swords with them. They did not die until after they were turned to Orcs. At that point, I think you would agree that a mercy was served."

Legolas was angry and unconvinced, "You are lying. "

"You do not want to believe me?" Thorin snapped, "Ask one of your own kind. My nephew rescued an Elfling of Mirkwood. It was she who killed the Orcs that were once your brethren. She is at our camp now, not well enough to walk."

"Bring her out." Legolas demanded.

Thorin wanted nothing more, "We will, but there must be an understanding. My nephew tried to return the girl once already, but those two unfortunate Guards were overtaken by Orcs, and he had to rescue her. Honor demands that he not abandon her to danger. We need to know that all of you will be taking the girl home. That is reasonable. Besides, Prince Legolas, you had best be tending to your own Kingdom, and let me and my nephews attend to mine."

"Who is this girl?" Legolas inquired with suspicion.

Thorin turned to Kili and nodded.

"Rhavaniel Mordemirdanian." Kili informed them. "She is from a family of blacksmiths, small for her age, with black hair and green eyes."

"I know that girl." The Elf Guard, Adanion, said, "They call her Smudge. She is friendly with Vehiron's youngest child. How did she end up with you?"

"We crossed paths by chance in the woods above Lake-Town ten days ago and have been running from Orcs nearly every moment since." Kili rushed the words out. "You must understand, there are two tribes of Orcs threatening Mirkwood, Esgaroth and Erabor. Azog the Defiler's tribe hunts the line of Durin for revenge, but this other tribe is hunting Elf to make more of their own. They do not care how many snaga they lose to make one Uruk-Hai."

"You need to pick your battles, and it isn't here." Thorin interjected, "We bring you the Elfling, and you all depart."

Legolas cautiously agreed, "I will speak with her, and if what you say is true, we will leave."

Tauriel interjected, "Respectfully, Your Grace, I should go instead. A child may be intimidated speaking to her Prince."

Kili was reminded of Rhavaniel's comment about pretty Princes and had to suppress a smile, "She would not be impressed."

Thorin shot Kili a stern look.

"The Dwarf is right." Adanion said, "That one's not a normal child. Even the Avari think she's cursed. They tricked the Mordemirdanians into taking her."

"She is not cursed!"

"Kili!" Thorin silenced him, then turned to the Elves, "He has grown protective, watching over the child for so long. I do not believe in curses, but having know the Elfling only a few hours, I can attest to her genius at causing mischief."

"I will go with them." Tauriel offered again, and Legolas nodded.

Tauriel followed Thorin, Fili, and Kili back to their camp. The silence was awkward, and Thorin had not specifically forbid Kili from talking, so he began to give Tauriel details.

"This other tribe of Orc, hunting Elves....whatever they do to turn them was fast. We encountered Glennodad and Vehiron only five days later, and there was no vestige of Elf left in them. Rhavaniel is not even sure if they recognized her as herself, or just an Elf to be captured.

They ride Wargs. The Wargs....I don't know them by breed, but of the twenty I saw, they were all shades of black and gray. No reds or browns among them, if that helps. They had a mix of Orc, with many smaller foot soldiers they call snaga. All of them were bigger than us, save for the first one we killed - he was my height. They were all painted. Azog's Orc do not paint themselves, do they, Uncle? "

Thorin shook his head, "For war, certainly, to signify unit, but not for hunting and scouting."

Kili continued, "The paint was mostly white and red - stripes and shadows. They like painted wings. A few had real bird wings, on their backs. Between that and the hooks they use to bring down their prey, Rhavaniel and I had taken to calling them Birdclaw.  
The Orcs near us now are Azog's - they use poisoned arrows, and they used one on Rhavaniel. That is why she is resting at our camp. This Birdclaw tribe does not use poison because they want to take you alive. If they catch one of you, they will torture you to lure out the rest. That is why they like to carry whips. You would know the leader if you can figure out who is carrying the whip."

Fili turned to look at Kili, imagining how awful it must have been for him to be tortured so.

"They don't care how badly hurt you are, either. The younger Elf Guard - his leg was freshly broken and he was walking on it when changed. It had been braced but still, it must have been agony." Kili said.

Tauriel was worried, "This must be a strong sorcery."

Thorin interrupted, "This conversation is rather one-sided. You, at least, seemed concerned when I mentioned the Avari. Why is that?"

"I am concerned with all the Elves of Mirkwood, as is our Prince." Tauriel said defensively. "He keeps his emotions in check when negotiating. It is a sign of strength, not indifference."

"Yet your emotions got the better of you?" Thorin pressed.

Tauriel hesitated, "I merely thought the ear trinket looked child-sized. It is irrelevant."

Kili stopped in his tracks, "If that Orc had been an Elf first.....you mean to say, you think we killed a child?"

Fili turned to his younger brother, "You killed _an Orc_ and it is not a child if it is old enough to try to kill you first."

Kili nodded and turned to Tauriel, "You will not say that to Rhavaniel, will you? She will be upset."

Tauriel assured him, "No, I will not."


	64. Whisper Campaign

Thorin led Tauriel into the little building where they kept Rhavaniel. The Dwarves had selected a building with a sturdy roof, at the mid-point of the City.

Rhavaniel looked a sad sight, exhausted from crying, with bandaged hand and foot, and bruises and scrapes on her face.

Tauriel knew Rhavaniel by sight, but had never spoken more than 'good day' to her before. She introduced herself in Elvish.

Rhavaniel responded in Common Speech, "I am most happy to see you. Did they tell you already about the Orcs? The ones who took Glennodad and Vehiron?"

Tauriel nodded, "Yes. We will return soon to inform our King and set the Guard to patrols."

"I do not understand how this happened. How could we not die first? Our souls were supposed to leave... " Rhavaniel shook from the effort of suppressing more tears. Bilbo put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Tauriel sat beside Rhavaniel, "I do not profess to know, but a dark sorcery must have been in play that prevented it. Or perhaps Glennodad and Vehiron did leave their bodies and some other dark soul was put in them. We will ask our learned ones these questions together."

"Then you will take me home?" Rhavaniel asked, glancing at Thorin. "My Dwarf hosts have been most gracious, but my family must be sick with worry, and I miss them terribly."

Tauriel assured her, "Yes, we will take you home. First, I need to know everything about these Orcs."

Kili spoke up, "We should make you a map of the encounters." he looked at Thorin, who nodded his reluctant approval.

Ori provided paper and pen to Rhavaniel, and she and Kili sat with Tauriel, sketching the Orcs in every detail they could recall, and mapping all conflicts.

Kili was careful to keep his eyes downcast. He knew Rhavaniel must be considering their plan from last night - that she slip away and hide in the ruined west bell tower. He was tempted to let her do it, slip away himself, and then run away together. These were stupid, childish ideas. He did not want her anywhere near Lonely Mountain when Thorin and Company opened that gate. Why had he brought her so close to a dragon in the first place? He had to do what was best for everyone, especially Rhavaniel.

Kili pointed to the east bell tower of Dale, "This is the first place the Orcs of Azog attacked us."

He looked Rhavaniel in the eyes and pointed to the west bell tower. "This West bell tower is not safe, not at all. Only Orcs would go there."

Rhavaniel understood. That had been her only hope.

"I want you to have something." Kili told Tauriel. He pulled the Orc whip from his coat and handed it to her. "This is the kind of whip the Birdclaw Orcs carry. Your elders may be able to decipher clues - what the marks on the handle mean or where it came from."

Tauriel took it. "You killed the Orc that wielded this?"

"No," Kili replied, "Rhavaniel did, when she came back for me. She's a very good Elf, very brave and loyal to her people. The Guard would be lucky to have her."

Thorin approached and Kili began to speak rapidly to Tauriel, "She would be better suited to apprentice with a Guard than at the forge. You are very kind, I know that from when we were in the Keep. You should take Rhavaniel to watch over and train her. She will mind you, and in return, you can keep her safe." Kili shot a pleading glance at Rhavaniel, then Tauriel.

Thorin stood beside them, "You are satisfied that they have told you all they know, and that it be true?"

Tauriel stood, "Yes, we are agreed. Your nephew is a credit to you. We are grateful for this information, and for keeping a young one of our kind safe. This will not be forgotten."

"That is the Dwarf way. Not like we'd throw her in prison." Thorin allowed himself a hint of sarcasm.

Tauriel turned to Rhavaniel, "Do you have your things?"

Rhavaniel nodded, "Yes, Ma'am."

"You should say goodbye to your hosts before we go." Tauriel said comfortingly.

"That is done." Thorin dismissed.

"I have to carry her out to the meeting place." Kili quickly scooped Rhavaniel up before Thorin could protest.

Fili tried to cool a seething Thorin, " _You_ said she could not walk." and picked up Rhavaniel's meager belongings. Tauriel collected the map and sketches and followed them all out the door.

They walked quietly back to the meeting location. Rhavaniel curled up silently in Kili's arms.

"It is good that you are going home, back to your nest, little black bird." Kili assured her. "All of your adventures will be from books for a few more years. That is how it should be."

Prince Legolas had been replaced by a second Elf Guard with a horse for Rhavaniel to mount, as they had been told an injured Elf was returning to them. Kili lifted Rhavaniel on to the horse with the help of the younger Guard, and shortened the stirrups.

Tauriel took Rhavaniel's belongings from Fili with a simple 'thank you'.

Thorin was glad to see the Elf Guard who had called Rhavaniel 'cursed' still there. Thorin approached him, "Good luck keeping an eye on that one all the way to Mirkwood. I would warn you to hide your valuables, but there does not seem to be a lock she cannot pick." And with that, the seeds of doubt were planted.


	65. Campfire

Fili and Kili prepared to sleep by the campfire.

Fili whispered, "What did you and that Elf girl talk about for ten days?"

Kili was silent.

"So, you were as tongue-tied with her as you are with Dwarf girls, eh? What did she talk about while you listened?"

Silence.

Fili kicked his younger brother. "Come on. Say something. You are not asleep. Tell me one thing about Elf girls, and I will leave you alone."

"She tasted like honey." Kili said quietly.

Fili bolted upright, "You kissed that girl!"

Kili shushed him, lest the others hear.

Fili fell back to the bedroll laughing. "Ho, ho! You were too scrawny for a Dwarf girl, so you found yourself an Elf! I would want to know how Dwarf and Elf compare, but unfortunately you've nothing to compare it to. I should have stolen a kiss myself before she left, since at least I could have told the difference."

Kili thumped Fili hard on the chest and Fili groaned, "Argh! Sorry, brother. Sorry."

After Fili regained his composure. "That explains why you have been so upset. You liked that Elfling as a bit more than friend."

Kili sighed, "Uncle Thorin is angry with me."

Fili chuckled, "Well, he shouldn't be. There's no harm done. Not really."

Kili knew better, "I hurt everyone, especially her. I am paying the price now."

"Kili, I have kissed many girls. A kiss is loaning a bit of your heart, and borrowing a bit of hers. That bit of heart comes back to you, none the worse for wear. Same with the girl. Was that your first real kiss? You think you gave your whole heart, but you did not. You will recover, and so will she. Your heart will be yours again, long before you are ready to marry and give it away, whole, to the right one."

Kili rolled onto his back and asked hesitantly, "If you _behave_ as though married with a girl, is your whole heart gone, never to return?"

"Kili, what are you saying?"

"I'm not saying anything, I'm asking ....in the hypothetical. You're the older brother, you're supposed to know these things. If you don't have answers, shut up and go to sleep!"

"Brother, tell me what happened on the road." Fili asked with growing concern.

"I have told you everything - every encounter with Orc, every path taken, everything I saw. I told Uncle Thorin, I told you, I told the Elves. I am all told out."

"That is not what I meant. What happened between you and the girl?" Fili coaxed gently.

"You won't even say her name. " Kili pulled up his hood and rolled over.

Fili wondered how they had all been so blind. How could something _not_ have happened between two lost and frightened young ones, with only each other to cling to?

"You are not the only one to grow up on this journey." Fili shared with his brother. "Uncle Thorin wants me to lead. That means stop _following_ his every order and start questioning what I don't agree with. Maybe I don't want this feud with the Elves. Why can't we make peace and trade with them like the Men of Lake-Town? It can happen. Once we have something of our own and our elders can lay down their bitterness and burdens - we will have some hope for a change. We will be the lucky ones, free to make our own choices. Would you like that - to have a choice?"

Kili turned back to look at Fili. "I would. But that is not what is going to happen. I think she was all the luck I was missing, and I was all the love she was missing."

(***************)

Dwalin and Thorin sat by the fire.

Dwalin broke the silence, "I am thinking I should say something to the boy."

"Give him a bit more time." Thorin advised, "Let whatever poison the Elfling gave him leave his system. Kili will be himself again soon. He will come to you when he realizes the truth of things."

Dwalin sighed, "I never thought there'd be a day where one of those boys did not trust me."

"That's what Elves do - sow strife. A few hours, and that one had us at each others' throats. "

"Are you worried about what happens next? "

"No." Thorin assured him. "After we recover Erebor and claim the treasure, I will be sending Kili to escort the families back from Blue Mountain. Kili will not disobey that order, and he'll be gone for a year. I will miss him, but it is for his own good. I expect that Kili will come to know some suitable Dwarrowdams in that time. As for the Elf, I will send off a handsome payment in gold for her broken bow and injuries. Let her try explain that to her people. I don't imagine Thranduil's Kingdom will be a welcome place for her much longer."


	66. Homecoming Part 1

After a hard ride, Prince Legolas, Tauriel and the Elf Guards returned to Mirkwood with Rhavaniel in a mere three days.

The entire party rode directly to King Thranduil's Citadel, where they were greeted by Valdarion, a Chief Council. Tauriel dismounted her tired horse, handing the reins to a helpful junior Guard.

"I would speak privately to Rhavaniel before she is reunited with her family." she told Legolas, "I will join you momentarily."

Valdarion was relieved to see Legolas, and what looked like the full contingent of Guards, safely returned. He was anxious to hear their report, but the unusual presence of an Elfling in the group prompted his curiosity.

"Who is that child?" Valdarion asked.

"A lost girl of our Kingdom" Legolas replied. "The Orc activity is beyond what any of us believed. That child was hunted to the very Gates of Erebor. We found her taking shelter with Prince Thorin, of all people. He was good enough to return her, the price being that we turn away from Lonely Mountain."

"I fear your Father will say the price was too high." Valdarion solemnly stated, "All of our children will be in danger if the Dwarves awaken Smaug. Preventing that was your mission."

"My mission has changed. I will explain when the Council convenes."

"They were summoned as soon as the horns announced your return. You have a few moments to refresh and change, if you like, while they gather."

"Thank you, but I have no time to spare."

Valdarion could not help but be distracted by Rhavaniel. That wasn't like him. It was so rare indeed, he decided that his nagging feeling was something he should pursue rather than ignore. "That girl, you say she is ours? Since when are there Tatyar in the Kingdom? We had given up looking for them over a hundred years ago."

Legolas shrugged, "I suppose she does look Tatyar, a bit." In truth, he had hardly looked at the girl. Tauriel captivated his eyes. Thoughts of the Dwarf situation, Smaug, and the Orc threat weighted on his mind.

Tauriel was chatting with the girl.

"Am I free to go?" asked Rhavaniel tiredly.

"Yes, but you must not leave the bounds of our walls again." Tauriel warned. "I will be visiting you soon. Where will you be staying?"

"To the home of my nephew, Nechaenion. No, wait, I am overdue to stay at the home of my eldest brother, Máfortion. It will be one or the other, or the Westward forge, or maybe I should go to class?"

Tauriel put a hand on Rhavaniel's shoulder. "I know your eldest brother. Go straight to his home and I will come speak with him later."

Tauriel was satisfied that Rhavaniel had not betrayed her people, and had not been mistreated by Dwarves. Though Tauriel understood that much was unsaid with this child, it was not of a matter for the Guard. King Thorin's nephew had seemed concerned for her, but Tauriel saw no reason for him to have worried so.

As Rhavaniel turned away, Legolas called to Tauriel. "Bring the girl."

Valdarion bent down to politely take Rhavaniel's hand in his, greet her, and look closely at her face.

"Aren't you a lovely girl." Valdarion smiled.

Rhavaniel blushed, not used to compliments except from Kili. "Not really, Sir. Even an Orc called me unpretty."

"Orcs are liars." he assured her. "How old are you?"

"Forty-eight, Sir."

Valdarion sighed, "Too young by far. Still, your face looks familiar. What can you tell me of your Elf tribe, or your human tribe?"

"I am not manchild at all, Sir, I am Avari."

"Avari, yes, and Tatyar, but there must be man in the mix, for no pure elf-born has skin as brown as yours. I do not mean to insult you, little one, it is just an observation from centuries of seeing many different tribes."

"Maybe that explains ..." Rhavaniel mumbled, eyes cast down. '... _why the Avari did not want me back_.'

"It is no shame." Tauriel assured her. "Some of our greatest nobles wed worthy Men and Women, and their descendants thrived with the gifts of both races."

"And some wed terrible Men, certainly the Tatyars did. I know of that history, too." Rhavaniel stated.

"She should go home and rest." Tauriel told Valdarion, sensing the weary girl was growing even more forlorn with this inquisition.

Adanion had joined them, and interrupted, "She should be locked up."

Tauriel turned to him, displeased, "Do not speak out of turn."

She turned to Valdarion and stated emphatically, "We are satisfied that the girl is guilty of no more than being in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Legolas concurred, "Let the girl go on. She is tired and needs clean clothes and a home cooked meal."

Tauriel looked at Legolas gratefully.

Adanion was not done, "I have just asked the Station to send word that the missing child is back, only to find there is no report of a child missing. If you think her people are going to keep her within the kingdom walls when they have not noticed her gone for half a month, you are mistaken. If you do not lock her up, we will be out finding her again."

Tauriel looked at Adanion sternly, "She has done nothing wrong, other than wander too far into woods she did not know were unsafe. That is not an offense for incarceration of an adult, let alone a child. But I will speak firmly to her guardians."

Adanion gritted his teeth, "Aye, not her fault Glennodad and Vehiron were killed trying to get her home. She could not save them, being one little girl. Except she did manage to fight for the life of a Dwarf Prince. Did not leave him behind for Orcs did you, little throw-away? Did not look like that youngest Dwarf wanted to let her go, not at all."

Rhavaniel looked even more crushed than the usual state of sadness that Tauriel had observed in their short time together.

Tauriel turned to her Adanion, "You are tired and grieving, so I will overlook the insubordination. But you will not cast aspersions on this child again. Am I clear?"

Adanion nodded, "Yes, Ma'am. I must prepare for the condolence calls for my fallen brethren, if I may be excused?"

Valdarion interrupted, " How many did we lose?"

Tauriel sighed, " Two, but not from our party. They were patrol guards."

"I knew two went missing shortly after the Dwarves escaped. We feared they met with violence."

"They did, but not from Dwarves. It was Orcs." Tauriel explained, "We only found out their fate a few days ago, when we recovered Rhavaniel and a sword of the fallen Guard."

"Such is the story _the Dwarves_ told." Adanion added. He was casting aspersions on Dwarves now, not the girl.

Tauriel began to realize how right Prince Kili may have been, to be concerned for Rhavaniel. She would have to speak with the Guards at greater length, and keep an eye on the child.

Valdarion was not sure what to make of this. "Much as I do not insert myself in Guard business, this child broke rules of where to travel and who to consort with. Do you have a guarantee she will not do so again? We cannot let one child distract our Guards from the very serious threats this Realm is facing."

"Thank you, Sir." Adanion replied.

Tauriel frowned. "I will explain the seriousness of what happened to her family, and personally guarantee her good behavior from now on."

She turned to Rhavaniel and offered her hand, "Come with me."


	67. Homecoming Part 2

Valdarion escorted Prince Legolas through the Halls to see King Thranduil in his chambers, only to discover the King meeting them half way.  
"Greetings, Father."

Thranduil offered a rare but sincerely warm smile to his son. "It is good to have you back safely. I was gravely concerned. I have assembled the War Council. We are eager to hear of what happened at the Lonely Mountain. Did you find Thorin Oakenshield?"

"I did - and I let him go."

"Why would you do such a thing?"

"Father, they were in their own Kingdom, not ours. To raise a hand against a noble Dwarf in Old Erebor would have broken the peace, something you instructed me _not_ to do."

"Keeping the peace between Dwarves is of less concern than keeping the peace with dragons, in case you did not realize the significant difference."

"Smaug has slept for the past sixty years. Wouldn't Dwarves have entered that Mountain already, if they could have?"

"Something has changed, at least in their minds. They see signs, but rather than take them as warnings, I fear that Dwarf greed makes them see opportunities."

"Well, nothing that elaborate is taking place now. I want you to hear you something." Legolas turned to Tauriel, who had lagged respectfully back in the hall, with Rhavaniel, "Come here, child.

Rhavaniel turned pale and stiff in front of King Thranduil. Tauriel gave a gentle nudge behind one knee and Rhavaniel dropped the appropriate curtsey.

"What did the young Dwarf tell you about this 'quest'?" Legolas asked her.

"He told me that they were traveling to the Iron Hills, to take work with their noble kinsman, Dain Ironfoot, for the winter. They were weary of working for Men, and thought to make a match between Lord Dain's daughter, Gila, and Fili, Prince Thorin's eldest nephew." she didn't offer that what Kili told her had turned out to be an elaborate lie. Technically, she _had_ answered Legolas' question truthfully, but she thought King Thranduil's glacial blue eyes bored through her and knew she was being deceitful. She shook a bit, and Tauriel put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Respectfully, perhaps we should let the child eat and rest before we question her further." she said.

"I have heard all I need." Thranduil said with no hint of inflection in his voice. Still, Rhavaniel thought his eyes remained on her as Tauriel led her away.

"You did well." Tauriel assured her.

"Behold, another sign." Thranduil said, when Tauriel and Rhavaniel turned the corner.

Valdarion noticed, "I only just saw her myself, your Majesty. She is a Tatyar, certainly. Probably descended from the last refugees of Queen Amenolye's retinue. There don't appear to be any besides her, but I will investigate when more urgent matters are resolved."

"Investigate now." Thranduil commanded. "Tatyars. They were once the wellspring of our civilization."

"Now they are mixed race savages, hidden in caves. Even the Avari regard them as not much better than Dwarves." Legolas ruefully noted. "It is not a surprise, really, that one of Prince Thorin's nephew's did wish to keep her with them."

"Dwarves are as greedy as Men, wanting something that Iluvatar has put out of their reach for a reason." Thranduil mused, "Many times I offered the exiled Queen of the Tatyar my protection, both before and after her misguided marriage. She should have accepted. I doubt that she and her daughter are even properly buried. A shame, truly. And now this last Tatyar barely escaped an even worse alliance."

"She would be just one more missing Avari child, assumed to have gone seeking or been lost to spiders, had she not lived to tell her tale." Legolas said. "And a harrowing tale it is. I need to speak to the Guards who patrols beyond our gates, especially on the western and southern border, as soon as they return.

Valdarion turned to Legolas, surprised he did not know, "They are already here. We reduced our patrols throughout the borders of Mirkwood to bring more troops to the Citadel. We have also summoned the Chieftains of the Avari settlements to convene here immediately, rather than wait until the winter Gathering. We can no longer waive them from supplying troops to the Guard, if we are to properly meet this new threat from the Dwarves and the potential awakening of Smaug. They are expected to begin arriving tomorrow."

"You mean that the Avari, who have been warning for years that the outer reaches of the Kingdom have become unlivable, have been even less protected, and now will be told they are no longer allowed the luxury of protecting themselves?" Legolas retorted.  
Valdarion did not respond. Schooling the Prince on his father's policy was not his place.

"I have come to report that we need to _double_ our patrols and if that is not possible, then bring all of the Avari within our perimeters immediately for their own protection." Legolas stated. "Tauriel and I will explain that there are other threats to our Kingdom, unidentified or ignored for far too long, that outweigh your feud with Prince Thorin."

Thranduil remained cool, "I can assure you that there are no threats to our Kingdom that I am unaware of."

"We have shut off the Kingdom as if to protect ourselves from plague, but the plague was already here. Perhaps we are the source of the infection. Did that not occur to anyone, that the Great Darkening comes from within rather than outside our borders? " Legolas challenged.

"The Great Darkening is certainly an infection, but one put upon us by too liberal interactions with outsiders. I had put a stop to that. " Thranduil replied "And I succeeded until the Dwarves brought their enemies to our very doorsteps."

Legolas shook his head, "Our land becomes more poisonous every day. I have returned from Esgaroth and Erebor and I tell you, that land begins to bloom, even in the face of winter. Those Kingdoms will rise again, while ours falls, if the land itself be any judge."

Tauriel approached the trio with deference. "The War Council is assembled. They are eager to hear our report on the location of Prince Thorin's party, and the Orc activity. Will you be joining us, my King?"

"I shall not. My Councilors at least understand what my priorities are. They know where I stand, and I trust them to offer you their wisdom."

"Where has your young friend gone?" Valdarion asked Tauriel.

Tauriel looked back, and Rhavaniel was already out of sight.

"Pardon me." and she rushed off after the girl.

She found Rhavaniel had gone to explore the carillon in the next hall, and was tentatively tapping out a light melody on the giant instrument.

Tauriel reprimanded her, "Mind that you do not disturb anything. You have brought quite enough attention to yourself."

Rhavaniel remembered Thorin's harsh words. "I do not want attention! I want no one to so much as see me anymore."

Tauriel thought that her guardians hardly saw this child before, since no one even knew she was missing.

Tauriel was surprised to see that Valdarion had followed her. Rhavaniel instinctively ducked behind the carillon.

Valdarion smiled and gestured for Rhavaniel to come forward, "You play well."

Rhavaniel came out and made a quick curtsey and said. "Thank you." Turning to Tauriel she asked, "May I go now?"

"No, I need you to stay close in case other questions arise that only you can answer. I have asked the Palace Guards to bring you food, and fetch some boots that will fit you. Be patient and remain where you are."

Rhavaniel nodded.

Valdarion asked, "When you do speak to her guardians, would you make inquiries into her origin and report back to me?"

"Of course." Tauriel assured him.


	68. War Council

Tauriel and Legolas sat in the Council War Room with King Thranduil's most trusted and senior advisors. The table was inscribed with great map of Mirkwood and the lands west to the Misty Mountain, east to the inland Sea of Rhûn, north to the Grey Mountains, and south to Rohan.

The Council had heard Tauriel relay what they had seen and heard of the two tribes of Orcs - those of Azog the Defiler, and those of the unnamed Orc that they feared more. Unfortunately, all information on this second tribe was derived from a Dwarf escaped from their own Keep, and an Avari girl.

Legolas and Tauriel knew they would be facing a challenge, convincing the War Council of this threat.

It was Valdarion who spoke first for the Council. "You understand, there is no corroborating evidence of existence of this other tribe of Orcs."

"Have our patrols reported nothing unusual?" Legolas asked.

"Of course they have. Dwarves of Thorin Oakenshield, a pestilence of Orcs pursuing the Dwarves. Lest we forget, an increase in the population of spiders. Our concerns are less with what they have reported than with what they _shall_ report if the Dragon Smaug is awakened."

Aransadorien spoke next, " We need to prepare to defend ourselves from Orcs, certainly, but a second tribe of Orcs might not be the worst thing to deal with. There are as likely to fight against Azog as for him, based on their own historic rivalries."  
Several nodded in agreement.

"These Orcs will most certainly band together if a dark power calls them." Tauriel warned them.

Aransadorien continued, "Do not mistake me, we must prepare for war at every turn now, but we should not be wasting resources hunting what may turn out to be ghosts. Not when we have identified real threats."

"It was only one Dwarf and one child who even saw these other Orcs?" Neurion queried. "They could have been gravely mistaken in their assessment of the fierceness of them. That is only natural, and no aspersion on their truthfulness."

Valdarion queried, "The only thing that differentiates these new Orcs, that the child called the Birdclaws, is that you believe they are uninterested in Thorin Oakenshield, and are instead hunting Elf, and turning them into Uruk-Hai?"

"Is that not enough?" Legolas demanded.

"It would be if it were true." Valdarion conceded, "When we come to that part of the tale, not even the Dwarf could verify it, for he did not know what Glennodad and Vehiron looked like. The young ones said the tribe decorated themselves extensively with paint and trophies? I say it is likely that the child saw Orcs that had taken our Guard's armor, and her frightened mind did the rest."

Tauriel pressed, "And the trinket, of Avari make? Have the Avari reported a missing child?"

Neurion assured them, "No, they do not."

"Because they knew their concerns would not be heard!" Legolas snapped.

Valdarion eased the growing tension, "We will easily determine if the Avari are in any danger, beginning tomorrow when their Cano arrive. You will not merely receive a summary, my Prince, you will be allowed to question each of them for as long as you wish."

"I have one more thing to show." Tauriel said, placing a whip on the table, the whip that Kili recovered from the Orc, Ronkûr. "Does anyone gather clues from this artifact?"

Ruscion, the most senior Venerator of the Elf Guard and a mentor of Tauriel's spoke, "The Dwarf himself should have recognized this handiwork. Look at the brigandine along the handle and center strap. This is the work of Ironfirsts."

Tauriel was surprised the item was Dwarf crafted. "The Dwarf who gave it to me was a Longbeard, quite young, he probably did not know other tribes' markings."

"Thorin and his Longbeards have been at odds with Ironfists for more than six generations. He may have been playing you with this, Tauriel."

"He wasn't. He'd been beaten with it." No one had told Tauriel about it, but the smell of the blood on it was fresh, and Dwarf. She knew.

Neurion was unimpressed, "One whip alone is no indication of an alliance."

"Exactly why we need to find more of these Birdclaws." Legolas insisted.

Handion commented, "The leather is oliphaunt, certainly an eastern artifact while Azog's Orcs are northern. I am concerned. If Thorin's enemies have created other alliances, it will be of importance to us and our strategy."

They worked throughout the night, arguing, strategizing, and planning. Resources would have to be apportioned, arms produced, troops trained, and the harvest would have to be brought in quickly. There would be no time for the typical autumn celebrations.


	69. A Place to Rest Your Head

As soon as the War Council adjourned, Tauriel realized she had not checked on Rhavaniel all night. She found the girl curled up asleep on the carillon bench. At least someone had found shoes for her - she wore a long pair of boots crafted for the Junior Guards. Rhavaniel woke with a start as Tauriel gently touched her shoulder.

"I am very sorry." Tauriel was quick to apologize. "We had serious discussions to attend to."

Rhavaniel looked up at Tauriel eagerly, "Of course you did. I am the last person you need to explain yourself to. I know what terrible things are happening. How soon will our troops be leaving to hunt the Birdclaw Orcs down?"

Tauriel chose guarded words, "Our Prince convinced them to investigate further. This matter is important, but I should not have left you alone for so long without at least checking on you."

Rhavaniel shrugged, "I have kept out of mischief. Between The Palace Guards and a few courtiers who have stopped by to play this with me, I have had two excellent dinners and good company."

"You must be tired."

Rhavaniel nodded.

"We will go now, to the home of your oldest brother. I sent word with a Guard last night to let them know you were back safely, and that I needed to speak with them."

(*****)

The sun was rising as Rhavaniel and Tauriel walked to the home of Rhavaniel's eldest brother, Máfortion.

"I do not know what to say to Herion." Rhavaniel said softly. "He is Vehiron's son."

"He and his mother and siblings are being cared for." Tauriel assured her. "Our priests know what to say."

"Then perhaps they can tell _me_ what happened, and let me know if Glennodad and Vehiron's souls are safe...if they are coming _back_."

"The battle between good and evil is only fought in Middle-Earth." Tauriel explained. "Ilúvatar alone rules over his children when they die, and no dark force can keep them from Him. Our friends are safe. They will not come back to us, though, as legends say some could. I lost my parents when I was young and I know that all orphans dream that their parents are coming back. The priests explained to me, and I have come to accept, that the souls of our loved ones trust in Ilúvatar's plan not only for them, but for those they left behind. It is not because the grace of the afterlife is more lovely that what they leave behind, it is that the very immortality of the soul is proof of Ilúvatar's love and the validity of his plan for all of his children."

"You are only an orphan if you parents are dead." Rhavaniel told her. "Mine left me."

(********)

The home was bustling with activity but not, as Tauriel had hoped, for the return of Rhavaniel. This was a family of blacksmiths, busy all year but more so when threat of war loomed. Orders for arms had flooded the forges, and Máfortion was busy coordinating shifts and ordering supplies.

They did greet Rhavaniel warmly. They had affection for the girl, it was obvious, but Tauriel was struck that not one person seemed to care enough to be angry with her. She allowed time for Rhavaniel to greet all of her siblings and their families while she spoke to Máfortion and Melima and a few other members of the family.

They had already heard a great deal of Rhavaniel's adventure through some of the returned Guards. Tauriel was surprised that she needed to tell them so little of what happened.

Tauriel paused, "Before we continue, could Rhavaniel retrieve her belongings and bathe? I think that would help her settle back after her experience."

Rhavaniel's nephew, Nechaenion, had to sheepishly explain. "I knew she was gone, but assumed she was with our Uncle Lithaldoren this whole time. He goes to an Avari settlement this time of year to work and teach. Rhavaniel always goes with him to Rumenya Halya, so I took her pack and threw it on the cart of Lithaldoren's family the night before they left, thinking that is where she would be. I do not have her belongings."

"It is all right." offered Melima, "I put together a few things for her. It will tide her over until Lithaldoren returns."

Once Rhavaniel was out of earshot, Tauriel explained, "We are living in very dangerous times. I believe Rhavaniel will not wander off again after what she has been through, but I have made promises that she will be kept under close supervision, as all of our children should. Will you be able to do that?"

Máfortion quickly responded, "Yes."

Melima however, was hesitant, "Wait, Husband. If it were any other time, we could keep her close. Because of these dangerous times of which you speak, we are busy at work. None have time to spare. You do not understand what this child is like. Take your eyes off of her for a second, and she is gone. Also, I have long suspected her of lying about her whereabouts."

"Then she will be kept at the forge at all times. To and from school is where she mostly wanders off and she will not be back in school until her teachers have determined she will not be a disruption." Máfortion assured his wife and Tauriel.

Nechaenion added, "She is a classmate of Guard Vehiron's youngest child. We heard about the tragedy. It will be best to keep the children apart for a while, naturally."

"School was never the only problem." Melima continued. "You are forgetting after dinner, and on her way to prayers. You would practically have to chain her in place to be sure."

Dûrion had a suggestion, "Lithaldoren's household may be best able to watch her. She tries hard to please him, and he is clever at finding tasks that keep her too busy to daydream or wander off."

"But what do we do for the week until they return?" Melima asked. "Who can watch her, night and day, when we have not been this busy in sixty years?"

"I suppose we can make a schedule..."

Tauriel interrupted, "I will take her for today, that you may discuss the logistics of her care with the extended family."

Tauriel did not have great optimism about the outcome, especially since no one stepped forward to take responsibility for the child. Still, she had to get back to the War Council. Tauriel asked one more thing.

"Who in the family knows the most about the girl's parents or other Tatyar in Mirkwood?"

Máfortion pondered this, "Only my parents ever met her parents. No Avari claim her as kin, and I have never heard of Tatyar in any settlement my family visits. I would not know one if I saw one, though. Is that what you think she is?"

"With her dark skin and strange hair, we always thought her mixed blood." Melima admitted.

"When I was younger, I saw our Eastern cousins, the pure blooded Tatyar." Tauriel told them. "Rhavaniel is most definitely kin to them."

"But she is also Avari, and most like the wild ones in temperament." Melima insisted.

Máfortion offered, "Lithaldoren, my father's brother, does not _know_ , but he certainly has suspicions of who her parents were, because he spends time among Avari. They respect him, as they did my father."

"If we had known her people, we would have certainly made them take her." Melima explained. "She is not Silvan. We love her, but she is not suited for life here. She wanders aimlessly."

Tauriel spoke her mind, "Did you never suspect that the way you kept passing her around, rather than giving her even a bed of her own, might have contributed to that problem?"

Melima was insulted, "The care we give this child follows the loving instructions set down by our family patriarch and matriarch. You have no children of your own, or grandchildren, nor have you taken in those unwanted by others, so you will understand that I will not be asking your advice on child rearing."

"You are right." Tauriel said contritely, "I most certainly apologize."

"All we know of her people would be in the letter." Dûrion said.

"What letter?" Tauriel asked.

(*****)

Rhavaniel took a very quick bath, threw on a long tunic, and ran to the Keep. She was anxious to retrieve the children's sketch book. It was still there, a bit damp on one corner but untouched since the escape of the Dwarves. There were the drawings of Kili, all the Dwarves, and their weapons.

Funny, but someone had added Mister Boggins, and not very well. He had not been locked in the Keep. Rhavaniel wondered who saw him. It would have to remain a mystery.

She raced back to Máfortion's home, barely in time before Tauriel knocked on the door, looking for her.

"Come in!" Rhavaniel called out, innocently brushing her hair.

Tauriel peeked in and shook her head. "Back in the bath." she ordered, noting Rhavaniel's dirty bare feet.


	70. Well of Secrets

Tauriel and Rhavaniel walked back to the Citadel. Tauriel had taken responsibility for the girl for another day, and was trying not to regret the decision.

Rhavaniel's wounds from her adventure had healed quickly thanks to the miruvor Tauriel had given her once the Dwarves handed her over. Tauriel almost regretted that decision. Perhaps seeing how battered, bloodied and poisoned the girl had been would have made her family realize the seriousness of what she had been through.

Rhavaniel wore embroidered suede shoes and a very pretty yellow and gray hand-me-down dress that was a bit big but lovely on her. She had not had time to braid and pin her hair, but it was brushed out in beautiful, glossy black rings.

"Melima dresses her granddaughters very well. Their seconds are the best. I hope I can keep this one." Rhavaniel told Tauriel, wishing Kili could see her in this.

It brought the first slight smile Tauriel had seen from the girl. _'From the young woman.'_ Tauriel corrected herself. She noted that Rhavaniel was indeed changing from an unusual looking child into an exotically beautiful woman. Prince Kili would have been the perfect height to look into those large, emerald eyes fringed by impossibly long, thick black lashes.

A glance beyond the surface, though, and the girl seemed to be made of secrets. Tauriel wondered if perhaps Rhavaniel wandered so much because she was looking for answers.

"You know that you appear to be an Eastern Elf, a Tatyar. Have you studied them at all?" Tauriel asked.

"Tatyar, Avari, does not matter since I know nothing about the first and very little about the second." Rhavaniel replied.

"I was old enough to have been a part of King Thranduil's search party nearly four hundred years ago, when word arrived of the attack on the last Tatyar Queen and her people, just East of Misty Mountains." Tauriel confided. "We were too late to help them. They had been slaughtered days before we arrived. All that was left for us to do was bury them with some dignity."

"I have heard the tale in school." Rhavaniel said thoughtfully, "They spoke of Queen Amenolyë. Her husband went mad, and when she tried to flee with her people, he tracked them down and killed them all."

Tauriel nodded sadly. "There had been hope that some Tatyar Elves had survived. I know I hoped. Our King Thranduil sent messengers to all corners of his Kingdom, and even beyond. No word of survivors ever reached him. Either none had survived, or they had hidden themselves away so far from the Witch-King's grasp, they had remained unseen in the last four hundred years. But then I see you, and I know that some survived, somehow."

"They did not survive, not if I am the last one." Rhavaniel pointed out, "I don't know their language, their songs, or even my own true family name. They hid themselves too well, and nothing was saved for all that effort."

"I don't think it is that hopeless." Tauriel countered, but she wondered if she was wrong. Many said that Greenwood began the slow, inexorable change to Mirkwood that dreadful day. The horrible events transpired outside their borders, but it was as if evil had taken a great victory, which spread to all corners of Middle-Earth. The love between Queen Amenolyë and her husband had saved the King from the corrupting influence of Sauron for many years. But the power of Sauron could not be denied forever.

(*****)

Tauriel returned to the War Room and was soon joined by Valdarion and Legolas. They had changed into clothes more appropriate for greeting visiting dignitaries, for the impending arrival of the Avari chieftains.

Tauriel had a question for them. "Does anyone recall the Avari coming to the Council with concerns, or resources for a quest, forty-eight years ago?"

Valdarion pondered the question, "We did have Avari elders of all the villages come together to say they were concerned - they reported ominous signs. It was about that time. Many have complained since, but individually, and typically in the context of negotiating smaller tributes. Never since have they come in unanimity. Why do you ask?"

"Rhavaniel's guardians allowed me to read a letter, in hopes that it had a clue to where she came from. Her parents went on a quest to investigate the Darkening when she was a babe and never returned."

Valdarion had ledgers with him, in anticipation of the Avari discussions later that day. He leafed through them.

"Cáno Revion came that year, with his wife, Yannah, and their eldest son, Rhovanion. The younger was marked as married, but his wife was not with him. A newborn could excuse her absence. The link is tenuous, but the best place to start. That village is Rúmenya Halya. I know Revion still lives. He comes to each winter council. They pay their tax and make no complaints. He will be here soon, with the rest of the Cáno. I shall have an aide check the records, but I think Revion's oldest son has not come since then."

Tauriel was grateful for this clue. "Thank you - it would be good for the girl to know where she came from."

Valdarion had food brought in. Tauriel prepared a plate and went to check on Rhavaniel, whom she had left by the carillon. Music would be played for the guests, and Rhavaniel would no doubt enjoy watching gifted musicians perform. That should keep the curious girl occupied and out of trouble for a while.

Rhavaniel thanked Tauriel profusely for the food that she brought. She was surprisingly hungry.

"Are there no fried foods on the menu for greeting the Avari?" Rhavaniel asked.

Tauriel laughed. "I think not. Is that what we should be serving?"

"No." Rhavaniel assured her. "I was merely curious. I have been meaning to try other styles of cooking."

Tauriel was pleased to share her good news with Rhavaniel, "I may have a clue to your blood family. And I will be able to find out more today, when the Avari chieftains arrive. I am allowed to question them about you."

"I do not mean to be disrespectful of your efforts." Rhavaniel said politely , "But my first family will not suddenly want me just because I know who they are. _They_ have always known who _I_ am and have not claimed me."

Tauriel had not thought of that, not at all. Why did she assume that knowledge of the past would help Rhavaniel with her present, or her future? The information may satisfy Valdarion's curiosity, but Rhavaniel might pay a hefty price in fresh disappointment and rejection.

' _Melima was right_.' Tauriel thought, ' _I should not be giving parenting advice any time soon_.'


	71. The Forest Closes In

Two units of Elf Guard rode into the Citadel Station at mid-morning. They were alone. No clarion call came from the Station to alert the Citadel retainers to prepare for visiting dignitaries.

A lone Guard did rush past Rhavaniel and the carillon player. He came back with Tauriel and Ruscion. Rhavaniel arose from her seat and quietly followed them outside.

Rhavaniel listened as the newly arrived Guards gave their report. They had returned with haste from two different Avari settlements to the south. Their mission had been to escort the Avari Cáno to the Citadel. The first Guards reported that the order had been refused by the Avari chieftain. Since they did not know if they were authorized to use force, the Guards decided to return for additional instruction and if necessary, reinforcements. The second set of Guards told an identical story.

"You acted wisely." Ruscion assured them, and Tauriel nodded in agreement.

As they conferred, a third set of Guards entered the Citadel. They had a different story to share. They said the settlement of Tasar Loxë had been found abandoned. It had been carefully packed up, the harvest bought in and nothing of value left behind, not so much as a kitten.

A fourth set of Guards was overdue. The arrivals of the eight Cáno had been timed so that they not all arrive at once. Certain rivalries could be eased or exasperated based on the equality with which all were treated, and staggering the arrivals through careful orchestration was the best means of avoiding perceived slights.

By mid-day, a fifth set of Guards was overdue.

A sixth set of Guards was actually the eighth set come early, having ridden hard. They said they found the village burned and pillaged.

Valdarion and Legolas had joined Tauriel and Ruscion outside, as the sense of foreboding increased with each passing hour.

Valdarion asked the newly arrived Guards, "Could they have burned it themselves, to complete their abandonment of the village?"

"I know not what attacked them," said a Guard, "but they _were_ attacked. There was blood in the streets and in some dwellings."

That village was Rúmenya Halya, home of Cáno Revion, and the village that Lithaldoren and his family had gone to work.

' _The Darkening has taken them all_.' Tauriel thought with dread. She saw Rhavaniel standing forlornly at the gateway of the Citadel station. She no longer thought Rhavaniel looked like a young woman - she looked once more like a small child.

"They are not coming." Rhavaniel said quietly to Tauriel, "Not the ones you think are my blood family, not the Uncle who helped raise me. I will never see them again."

The Guard, Adanion, had joined the growing group of anxious watchers. "Cursed." he muttered.

No more Guard escorts arrived that day.

(*************)

Legolas paced angrily, "We need to send out other Guards in full force to every settlement, to escort everyone back, for their own good. I will go to Rúmenya Halya myself to determine what happened. There will be evidence. The Guards left quickly, as they should have, to bring us word. They did not have opportunity to investigate."

Tauriel agreed, "I want to take Rhavaniel with us. She has been to that village. She may be able to tell what is out of place, and help us determine if this was the work of Azog or the Birdclaws."

Valdarion resisted, "You must not leave until first light tomorrow. It is not safe at night."

Legolas asked Tauriel, "Where will you keep Rhavaniel tonight?"

"I will take her to the west forge, where she says she has a bow of her own and a small sword she can borrow. Then, I will find a quiet room for her in the Citadel."


	72. Ring of Fire Part 1

Tauriel and Rhavaniel were nearly finished at the west forge. Rhavaniel had strung her spare bow and filled her quiver with arrows. She said goodbye to her kinsmen.

"If anyone can find Uncle Lithaldoren and his family, it will be Tauriel." Rhavaniel assured them.

Tauriel was checking on the supplies of arrows that all of the Guards would need tomorrow, for their excursions into the Avari settlements. This was something Vehiron used to do, but his replacement had not yet been named.

Night was just falling when they spotted it - a distant light in the sky, coming from the east.

Tauriel turned to Rhavaniel, "Stay here. Stay at all costs. You must not leave."

Tauriel ran for the Citadel, to rally the troops, hoping this was not what she feared it was - the awakening of Smaug.

Máfortion kept control of the forge, ordering bundled arrow taken at once to the Citadel and to several towers along the village perimeter. Every able-bodied person had a task.

Daeron, a young cousin of ninety, spoke up "I will take these."

"No!" Máfortion stopped him, "Someone has to watch Rhavaniel. See that she does not leave."

Rhavaniel was flittering about in the loft, for a better view of the eastern skies.

"Seriously?" Daeron replied with indignation, "I am a good archer, as good as a Guard, and you need these arrows taken now."

Máfortion was firm, "Stay here and watch that your cousin does not leave." he shouted up to Rhavaniel, "Come down here! Stay put and mind Daeron."

Daeron was angry. All this excitement, and he was missing it. Stuck with a runt of a girl cousin who apparently had been killing Orcs herself for the past two weeks, but now had to be treated like a thin shell of blown glass.

Rhavaniel had not seen much, just a glow of red light very far away, beyond their tree line. It looked like it was coming from Lake-Town, definitely not Erebor, and that gave her a sense of relief. Maybe the Men were just having a harvest bonfire. She prayed that Orcs were not attacking _them_ next. King Thranduil would order his Guard to rush to their aid, she was sure.

Rhavaniel fidgeted with her pack, readjusting her belongings, not knowing what else to do with herself until Tauriel returned. She sorted through the new things from Melima, and combined them with the few personal items she brought back from her time with Kili. She noticed a small wooden box that looked familiar. It was the box of enamel ear trinkets the Avari had gifted her with over the years. Melima had kept them out of her reach - not wanting Rhavaniel to be tempted to pierce her ears until she turned fifty.

' _Looks as though Melima she does not care what I do with my ears now_.' Rhavaniel thought to herself. But she no longer wanted to pierce her ears, ' _Kili would not like it_.'

Still, they were beautiful - all of those individual feathers. She could fashion them together and make one lovely set of enamel wings and perhaps wear it in her hair. She had not tried her hand at jewelry design before, but this would be a good reason.

Daeron paced angrily.

Rhavaniel glanced at him, "I am sorry, Daeron. I want to find out what is going on as much as you do."

Then they saw it. High in the sky, the unmistakable streak of fire.

"The dragon......"

The Dwarves must have entered Erebor, and awoken Smaug. Her heart ached with uncertainty of Kili's fate.

Daeron snapped at her, "I should be helping, but I can't leave you or you will be gone in an instant."

"I will stay this time." Rhavaniel promised. Truthfully, if she had any idea where to run to help Kili, she would be gone. She did not know what to do, and was frozen in this place with uncertainty.

Daeron stopped pacing, "Here, do me a favor."

"Yes." she jumped up to help.

"Stand here."

Before Rhavaniel could realize his intent, Daeron had snapped a manacle around her ankle, leaving her chained to the central post of the forge.

"What were you thinking?" Rhavaniel yelled at him.

"I am thinking that I can't be in two places at once, and I can't trust you to do as you are told. I am sorry, but you brought this on yourself." Daeron grabbed two large bundles of arrows and headed for the exit. He hesitated before departing.

"I will be back as soon as I deliver these arrows and get news. You want news don't you?" he asked gently.

Rhavaniel nodded, "Yes, but please don't be gone long!"

"I won't be."

And with that, she was alone.


	73. Ring of Fire Part 2

A few hours had passed since Rhavaniel had been left alone in the forge. None of the blacksmiths had returned, certainly not Daeron, who had promised to be back soon. She could tell the Woodland Kingdom had not been attacked - she would have seen it and heard it already. But Smaug was still lighting up the eastern sky. He could turn his attention to them at any moment.

' _That boy is not very bright_.' Rhavaniel thought to herself. ' _He must have overheard Melima talk about chaining me, just as I did. Daeron is not one for an original idea, that is certain_.'

She heard someone enter the forge.

"Daeron?" Rhavaniel called out. "About time you came back."

It was not Daeron. It was Hérion, her friend, Vehiron's youngest child.

He looked so much like his father. At forty-nine, Hérion had nearly reached his adult height. The boy was tall, a younger version of his father, with identical blond hair and pale blue eyes.

"Hérion, are you alright?" Rhavaniel asked gently.

"No, I am not."

"I wanted to talk to you, when I first came back, but everyone thought it best that I wait." Rhavaniel told him. Even Tauriel had agreed with her family on that point, and urged Rhavaniel to be patient.

"My father's friends came. They told me all that they knew. Is it true that my father was an Orc when he died?"

Hérion was not merely a ghost of his father, he was a ghost of Rhavaniel's lost childhood. She felt ancient from having experienced so much more death and dark forces than should be imagined in a child's life. But she also felt small - too young to find wise words to comfort this boy.

"Your father's spirit was already gone before the life in his body ended." she said simply, because that is how she thought of it.

"But _you_ ended his life."

"Yes."

"You don't _know_ if he was really gone." Hérion pressed. "You don't _know_ if he could not have been fixed."

Rhavaniel was at a loss for answers, "I know that I could not have fixed him."

Hérion threw the lamp in his hand at her. She dodged it, and it hit the post instead, breaking and bursting into flames. Wood shavings from the lathe caught fire.

Rhavaniel jumped back but the chain stopped her retreat.

"Hérion, help me!" she shrieked.

He looked shocked. He had only thrown the first thing handy out of anger, and had not seen that she was chained in the shadows.

"The key!" she shouted, pointing to the ring of keys hanging near the door, out of her reach. Hérion turned and ran away.

The fire began to spread. Rhavaniel searched for anything within her reach that could be used to grab the key.

She pulled with all her might against the chain, but it would not give. She managed to knock down a tool rack, but everything scattered out of her reach. She grasped a file - it was too big to pick the lock, and she would never file through the chain in time.

"Daeron! Daeron!" she screamed.

No one was going to hear her over the din of alarm and activity. No one was going to see her - she was on the west-most edge of the perimeter wall, and the fire in the sky was in the east.

She was going to die trapped, burned to death. This was certainly a way an immortal Elf could die, and it would not be quick. This must be her punishment, she thought, for setting the Watchtower on fire, for causing Glennodad and Vehiron to be sent to investigate. This was all her fault.

It did not matter who she called for anymore, so she called, "Kili!"


	74. Aftermath

"It was an accident."

"You have said none but those four words all night!" Tauriel pleaded with Rhavaniel, "Let us assume I believe you - and a mighty leap of faith that would be - tell me exactly what happened."

Rhavaniel sat with her knees up to her chin, making herself as small as she could. She took a deep breath to calm herself, and shakily spoke her story.

"My cousin Daeron wanted to deliver arrows to the West Tower, since none of the other smiths or apprentices had returned. They had all been gone a long time. Daeron was worried about them, is all. It was not his fault. He just wanted to do his part. He had only left me alone for a few minutes. I knocked over a lamp and that started the fire. I thought I could put it out myself, but the fire spread. When I did call for help, no one heard me because of all of the excitement. I kept calling and trying to put the fire out, but no one noticed until the fire became large and by then it was too late. It happened so fast.... "

Tauriel look at the girl carefully as she spoke, "The smiths said the inside water pump was still working, and full. Why did you not try to use that?"

Rhavaniel shook her head, hoping it would hide the fact that the rest of her body was shaking at the memory, "I could not reach it."

"Why not?"

"The fire was between me and the pump."

"That begs the question of how you got out at all."

"I saw a break and leapt through the flames. It was too hot to stay in there, so I ran outside. I am sorry. It is no one's fault but mine, but it was an accident. That forge was my home. I would not have harmed that place."

Tauriel sighed in frustration. Rhavaniel's story was mostly credible, and her trauma and grief at the experience was palpable. But how could this child who had been practically invisible for her entire life suddenly be relevant to every aspect of this storm of adversity plaguing the Kingdom?

"You realize how this looks? You are a few days back from consorting with escaped Dwarves, and you burn an important defense asset just as we face threats unseen in the last sixty years."

Rhavaniel shook free of her haze long enough to become defensive. She had heard the Guards, and then her own family use the word 'cursed' when they thought she could not hear. She was not cursed. She trusted Kili more than she trusted them, and Kili had assured her that fate's plans for her were not her fault. "Do those who first came upon the fire confirm that I was trying to put it out with the outside pump?"

"Mostly, yes." Tauriel conceded, "But one says you ran out from the woods before you started to put out the fire. Was he lying?"

"No," Rhavaniel admitted, "He was not. I did run to the woods first. I thought I should run away because I was frightened I would be blamed. It was a brief moment of weakness. I came back. I had to try to put out the fire. Even after the fire was out, I stayed because you told me not to leave. Can anything be saved?"

"Your oldest brother and kin are still determining the damage. They are moving operations to the old west forge and not happy about it since that is small and they lost a great deal of supplies and some tools."

"Will I still be coming to Rúmenya Halya with you? I want to help look for Uncle Lithaldoren."

"No, you may not. The rise of Smaug has changed all priorities. No one is going to Rúmenya Halya." Tauriel could not hide her own disappointment, that there would be no search for their missing people , "I need to tend to things. I will be back in a few hours."

"May I go now?" Rhavaniel asked anxiously.

"NO!" Tauriel was not unsympathetic to Rhavaniel's stricken look and explained. "This is not punishment. This is for your own safety. I believe this was an accident, but I need you to be where no more accidents will happen. I promised Prince Kili that I would keep you close, and I have failed already. Be patient."

Tauriel left, locking Rhavaniel in a room of the Citadel.

' _This is not the Keep._ ' Tauriel assured herself. But it was the same as a prison, locked and guarded.

(**********)

Tauriel visited the burned West forge, to further assess the damage and talk to Rhavaniel's family.

Máfortion spoke for them all, "I know the girl attracts trouble, but I swear she did not do this on purpose. She has not one ounce of meanness in her, and she loved that forge. I am ashamed to admit, because we promised our parents, but we cannot take Rhavaniel back. Our livelihood, our reputation, even our personal safety are in peril around her. I understand now why her own people gave her away. It is not her fault, but she is surely cursed."

Tauriel was incredulous, "What would you see done with her, after assuring me of her innocence?"

Máfortion was saddened but firm in his resolve. "I would ask that you make an Avari tribe take her. Are the other Cáno coming soon?"

Tauriel shook her head, "No chieftains are coming. They are all missing or refusing. That is how dangerous the outlying villages have become. The Great Darkening grows worse every day. Is exile still your recommendation?"

"I recommend a correction. Find another place for her - a more suitable place where her actions will not have such dire consequences."

Naechanion asked, "When do you leave to look for Lithaldoren and his family? There are at least two other villages where you could leave her on your way to Rúmenya Halya."

"There will be no search of Rúmenya Halya any time soon." Tauriel told them. "We cannot spare the troops, and I am here to order your family not to go looking for Lithaldoren on your own. I am very sorry, but the forest is not safe, and you are needed here. All of you."

(************)

Tauriel went to the woods, tracking Rhavaniel's steps from last night. She looked around and saw an old iron chain and manacle. The lock had been sprung. The chain was heavy and short, with the last link freshly broken, as if by a hammer and wedge.

(***********)

Tauriel returned to the old west forge, "May I speak to Daeron?"

Daeron quietly put down his tools and came forward.

Tauriel showed him the manacle and broken chain, "Do you know anything about this?"

Daeron looked down in shame. "I chained Rhavaniel in the forge last night. I am sorry. She never stays put, and I had to deliver supplies. I could not sit around and be a useless baby nurse while we were about to be attacked by a dragon."

Daeron was relieved to have the truth out.

The family was silent. His father put a hand on his shoulder, and spoke to Tauriel, "He should not have done that, and I will deal with him _severely_. But it was still the girl that caused the fire, not my son."

"Yes, but this explains why she could not reach the pump to put it out, does it not?"

Daeron nodded, "It does. I should have been here. She might have been killed. Can you please tell her I am sorry?"

"I think she already knows." Tauriel told him, "She lied to protect you."

Tauriel was struck by the silence. This turn of events still meant nothing to them. They had made up their minds about the girl. She was no longer one of them, if she ever truly had been. Tauriel turned to leave but paused. Rhavaniel's well of secrets seemed somehow deeper when they spoke.

Tauriel turned back to Daeron, "One more thing. How long were you gone, really?"

"For nearly the whole attack of Smaug on Lake-Town. I watched the skies with the Guards in the Willow Tower until the forge fire was discovered."

"Did anyone ask you where your cousin was last night?"

"Yes, when I delivered arrows to Guard Station Foxpaw."

"Which Guard asked you?"

"It wasn't a Guard."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the Old Norse that Tolkien used for inspiration, Fili means file and Kili means wedge


	75. Lost In the Woods

Tauriel returned to the Citadel to check on Rhavaniel. Legolas joined her in the Halls.

"The girl did not set the forge on fire last night." Tauriel told him with urgency. "I must move her out of here, and quickly."

Legolas was confused, "I thought you said she confessed to an accident?"

"Yes, but she was lying when she confessed. Out of fear or to protect someone else, I do not yet know."

They approached the room where she had left Rhavaniel.

"You are not the Guards I left here." Tauriel challenged them. They were young, both Junior Guards.

The Guards looked quizzically at each other, then at Tauriel. "There was a shift change."

Tauriel opened the door to find Rhavaniel gone.

"What happened?" she demanded of the Guards.

"No one came or went."

"Did you at least check that the room was occupied when you started your shift?"

The Guards looked down, "No."

Tauriel was livid "You will go and fetch the two Guards you relieved of duty. NOW!"

They swiftly left her presence.

Tauriel looked at Legolas, "This is wrong."

"What has been right for weeks now?" Legolas asked her. "We are not without good news, though. The dragon Smaug is confirmed dead. The villagers of Lake-Town were able to mount a defense."

Tauriel sighed with relief, "Then we can put troops to searching for the Avari and bringing them to safe keeping."

"No." Legolas told her. "My father has ordered troops to march to Erebor immediately. With Smaug gone, the Dwarf treasure is unprotected. My father would not have it fall into the hands of Azog."

Tauriel was shocked, "We have people, subjects of the King, who are missing, including this girl. Our people should be put above treasure."

"And I agree with you completely." Legolas replied. "But wealth in the hands of Orcs is a dangerous thing. They can grow their armies, buy weapons, and attack us with mercenaries. We need to prevent that, for the security of our people for the next hundred years, not just for today. As for this girl......is it not possible she escaped on her own and ran away?"

Tauriel looked at Legolas with anger. "I have very good reason to believe she was _taken_ away. You echo the words of the administrators who dismissed the notion of missing Avari children. I see you are a champion of the underclass except when it inconveniences you."

Her harsh words tore at him. How he wished he could make it right in her eyes, drop every responsibility and follow her after a wayward child. Tell her what a good mother he knew she would be some day. But he was a Prince, and the awakening of Smaug had proven his Father right. Thranduil bore the weight of the fate of their people on his shoulders, and it was the birthright and duty of Legolas to share it.

"Question the Guards on our way to Erebor. We leave now. That is an order."

(************)

The bag over her head itched. It was coarse, heavy material, and hard to breathe through.

Rhavaniel could tell from the warmth of the sun on her left that they were heading straight south. They rode fast. Whatever the Guards intended to do, they would have to stop midday if they planned to return to the Citadel by dark - earlier if they had to return by a shift change. That was why they were riding their horses hard.

"This is far enough."

"That's not what was agreed."

"Plans have changed."

She tensed when she felt one of them grab her and pull her off the horse, putting her down on the ground. She did not cry, or beg for mercy. It seemed to her that everything she loved most had been lost - Kili, the forge, Uncle Lithaldoren, the Avari villages. What was left - friends and family - no longer wanted her. She had no place to go. If they ended her life here in the dark woods, it did not matter. Perhaps she belonged on the other side now, because there was no place for her in Middle-Earth. She was so tired.

"I will not hurt her. I never agreed to that."

"Neither did I. But we do not need to risk our lives taking her further than this. Just leave her tied."

Rhavaniel felt both of them pick her up. She no longer felt the sun on her body. They moved her under the shade of a great tree, probably a willow. They untied her hands long enough to tie them around the trunk of the tree.

"Can you hear me?"

She nodded yes.

"When you get loose, you are never coming back to the Realm, are you?"

She shook her head no.

She heard them ride away.

How did they expect her to get loose? The ropes were tight and strong. Stories of her cunning had clearly been exaggerated to these Guards. The situation was hopeless.

She wondered how long it would take her soul to leave her body. She heard that despair alone would make that happen for an Elf. There should be no need for her to wait for insects taking little bites over days or predators tearing big bites over seconds. It should be easy, shouldn't it? This wasn't the sort of thing they explained to children, obviously. She wished they had. She wondered if they covered it on one of the days she skipped class? That would be ironic. She giggled a bit hysterically at the notion.

' _Maybe I want to live, or Ilúvatar is not done with me in this world.'_ she wondered.

Then she heard it, something out of place. Large. ...walking on two feet. Not an Elf, but it knew how to move quietly in the woods. Her senses were dulled by the sack, but she thought she could smell it now. Could it be a giant....bird?

She coo'd like a dove, the call she shared with Kili.

Something coo'd back, then spoke, "Are you alright there?"

Rhavaniel gasped, "No, I am not alright. If you would be so kind as to untie me."

She heard something move closer and she tensed. Whatever it was, she felt it cut her hands loose first, and then the tie around the sack.

Rhavaniel tore the sack off her head and breathed cool, fresh air. Her eyes adjusted to the light, and as her vision cleared, she saw a Man, very tall, dressed all in brown and wearing a funny hat adorned with a bird's nest.

' _That explains the scent_.' she thought.

"Thank you." she told him. Miracles were no excuse for forgetting basic manners.

"My name is Radagast the Brown. I live south of here. I was on my way to confer with King Thranduil...private business, most urgent. I was just returning a little bird that had fallen from its nest when I heard you laughing."

"I know who you are." Rhavaniel perked up in excitement. "You are a friend of Gandalf the Grey. Is Mister Gandalf nearby?"

Radagast was surprised, "You know Gandalf?"

"No, I....let us say he is a friend of a friend. I know Mister Gandalf was supposed to be with a Company of Dwarves led by Prince Thorin Oakenshield, but did not rejoin them by the time they neared Erebor."

"Ah, well, he was otherwise occupied. Still is. Urgent business."

"Then I shall not keep you." Rhavaniel replied, disappointed. "Thank you again for your help."

"If I may ask, is there someplace safe that I could take you? I am on my way to see King Thranduil and you are an Elf so......".

"NO! I cannot go there."

"Alright, alright. But is there no other place?" Radagast asked gently "My business is urgent, but I would not leave you alone like this."

Rhavaniel thought, ' _I have no weapons, no shelter, no fire_.'

She hesitated, then asked, "If you could take me close to the Woodland Realm walls, near the Citadel, I could find my own way from there. That would help."

"Perfect!" Radagast agreed.

(******)

Rhavaniel was amazed at the rabbit sled. She had assumed that Radagast would travel with her on foot, finding shelter at sunset, still far from Thranduil's Citadel. But the rabbits were faster even than horses, and they could cover rougher terrain and take shortcuts.

Rhavaniel discovered that she and Radagast were excellent conversationalists, as long as the conversation did not touch on his business at the Citadel or her business alone in the woods. They were at the perimeter of Thranduil's Citadel long before dark.

"That is close enough for me." Rhavaniel said, jumping off.

Radagast pulled up the rabbits. "Wait, can you at least tell me your name?"

"It is best that you do not know. Do not tell anyone you helped an Elf girl in the woods this day. It will go badly for you, I swear. Thank you."


	76. Final Conversatoins Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because this story is supposed to slip in between established events, I am forwarding the Dwarf story line to after the death of Smaug. The Company of Dwarves has been made aware of the convergence of Thranduil and Bard and their troops outside the Gates or Erebor, and Thorin is in the throes of gold sickness. - I envisioned that there were numerous important conversations, potentially the last conversations, between many of the Dwarves. I wanted to pick a few that exemplified where things stood in their relationships, heading into the Battle of Five Armies.

Kili tried on braces from the collection in the Great Armory of Erebor. He had to take the largest pieces because of his height, but he was so lean for a Dwarf, he fairly rattled around inside them. He threw them down "Dwalin can choose from these. They are too big for me."

Fili came over and picked a few up. "We can make this set work with just a bit of adjustment. As for the rest, I think Dwalin would like it if you brought those over to him to choose from."

Kili grimaced, "That will not happen. You take it to him."

Kili sat down on what must have been an officer's podium. "I am not like other Dwarves. Fili. Everyone knows, but no one will admit it. Rhavaniel said Mahal built her and Ilúvatar built me, so we were a mixed match. She had strange logic, always looking at things differently. She came up with pretty little stories, though."

"If she had you thinking you were not a Dwarf, that is hardly a good thing." Fili pointed out.

"Why is that her fault? I was different before I met her. Remember all the strange looks, and the fights in the schoolyard? And who could forget the time the authorities from Bywater came by and accused Uncle Thorin of having stolen a manchild?"

"That was the fault of one drunken idiot!" Fili protested. "And no one has said such things in years!"

Fili spoke to his brother as kindly but firmly as he could, "Kili, you are upsetting yourself over nothing. You are not a foundling, like you Elf friend, or a stolen child. And you are not mixed blood. Let me stop you before you dare to go there with these questions. I _remember_ when you were born. _Our_ father loved you. He would not put you down for half a year, and I was so jealous of you. I admit, you were a funny looking baby, but it could not have been any worse than when Azog's parents got a first look at him."

They could not help themselves but burst out laughing.

Fili comforted Kili, "You know who you are. You are a Dwarf, and my brother, completely."

(******************)

Fili approached Thorin. "Uncle, I wish to discuss strategy with you."

Thorin looked up from his maps, "Good. I need a fresh set of eyes on this."

"Actually," Fili said, "I came to discuss a peace strategy."

Thorin leaned back and nodded for Fili to proceed.

"We agree that the people of Lake-Town helped us to reclaim Erebor, and paid a terrible price for it. It was Bard who took the killing shot to Smaug. Much as we wanted that honor for ourselves, it is his."

"Your point." Thorin urged.

"My point is that they are owed, and we have discussed among ourselves taking a collection to pay them in gold. Kili and I each pledged one quarter of our share, and Bilbo nearly all of his. That alone would be enough, but more of us are willing to share."

Thorin scowled, "You think I do not understand what honor demands, or have no place in my heart for charity? But Bard has come to us armed, and partnered with Elves. To pay them now would be a sign of weakness. They will only use that wealth to hire mercenaries and buy siege arms and return in greater number for the rest. No! When we help them, and _we will_ , it will be from a position of strength, not weakness."

"With respect," Fili replied, "it is not your decision how anyone in the Company disposes of their wealth."

"As King, I can and do forbid any of you from aiding our enemies. By bringing troops to the Gates of Erebor, they have shown themselves to be enemies. As for you and Kili specifically, I am within my rights as your Uncle to hold your shares in trust until you are one hundred years old. Check your contract."

Thorin lectured Fili, "You are jeopardizing all of Erebor with your rash thinking made from emotion. You need to use your head, Fili. I expect better from you. I need better from you. Besides, that does us no help with respect to the Elves. Would you take up a collection for them as well?"

Fili shook his head, "No, I would not. Thranduil is outrageous in his demands. He has done nothing but insult and hinder us. But I have thought of a way to make even the Elves leave peacefully."

Thorin leaned back and crossed his arms, "I doubt I am going to like this but I am curious. Tell me, how would you make the Elves leave."

Fili looked around the room, at the pieces of ornate jewelry that had been recovered from the jumbled heap and carefully laid out so far, "My fourteenth share of the treasure - may it include that emerald torque?"

Thorin looked, "Easily, if that is how you want part of it met."

"We _give_ Thranduil nothing because he deserves nothing. But if a bride-price is offered for an orphan, then by tradition and by law, her King may collect it."

It took a moment for Thorin to believe what he was hearing. "That is the most horrific proposal I have ever heard! How could you contemplate such a disgrace to our family? Kili put you up to this!"

"Kili has no idea what I am doing!" Fili protested, "I am asking it because I have been thinking about nothing except how not to get my little brother killed, when this idea came to me. Do not tell me that there have never been political marriages in our family. I think it is a sign, that the Elf girl has no family. There will be no objection. Thranduil leaves with jewels, no one appears weak, and we gain an alliance."

"A pathetic alliance." Thorin sneered.

"Our alliance with Elves was always weak." Fili conceded, "This time we know it."

Thorin shook his head, "Have you even thought about what your mother would say?"

Fili had, "They do not have to marry immediately, nor will they, being far too young. They can be betrothed for fifty years and no one will question it. Our mother has time to meet and know this girl that saved her son's life. If our Mother does not like her, or even if Kili and the girl change their own minds, we will deal with it honorably later."

"We would be ridiculed and shunned by our own kind." Thorin stated simply.

"No." Fili assured him, in his reasonable tone, so much like his own father, "We are the reclaimers of Erebor. We will always have respect. I can be married before them, to someone you approve of. I will ensure that the line of Durin remains pure. Kili's match will not matter."

"It will matter _to me_. I would not let any Longbeard marry an Elf, certainly not my own father's grandson. You call that travesty a political marriage? Such marriages are between equals. Kili is a Prince, from an unbroken line to Durin, and now wealthy. That girl is a low-born, penniless thief, without so much as a family name. It would be a joke for Thranduil to accept even a handful of gold coin for her. You want to give him..." Thorin paused for a quick estimate of the torque "...Five hundred emeralds? I will not be laughed at. _Pay_ to be disgraced? Never."

"It is not a disgrace." Fili insisted, "Man and Elf have married successfully."

"You speak of marriages between royal houses and between children of Ilúvatar. We are children of Mahal, and the girl is not worthy of Kili."

"Think of how they met," Fili pleaded, "and tell me you do not see the hand of some divine influence in it? Let them be together. Only good will come of it, I swear."

Thorin was ice cold, "I would see Kili dead on the battlefield before I would allow that."

Fili rushed to Thorin and put his hands on him "Take that back! That is a curse! No King nor Uncle will put a curse on my brother!"

"I will not!"

Bilbo heard the whole exchange, and did not want to hear more. If Fili could not convince Thorin, then Bilbo had no other choice.


	77. Golog II: The Pretender

Golog hated wasting time. He had wasted his first thousand years as an Orc, despising himself and his kind. His second thousand years were not much more productive. He continued to waste opportunities. He had allowed himself to be nothing more than a tool for Sauron. He had refused to become a true disciple of his Master, and study with the great Necromancers in the far corners of Middle-Earth. But things changed. Golog experienced a great awakening, and realized that being Orc was a gift that he had been squandering.

Golog had spent the last five hundred years learning, and now there were dark arts that he himself had taught Sauron. He was Noldor, noble and ancient. Surpassing their teachers was their way.

Dwarrowdams were an example of Golog's intellectual evolution. Other Orcs would only wage war with Dwarves on the battlefield. Certainly, a Dwarf was a worthy opponent. They were strong, resilient, and fearless. Golog had enjoyed fighting them on Sauron's orders, or even out of boredom. But Dwarves rarely if ever sent females into battle because there was only one of them for every four males. When you killed a Dwarf female, Golog determined, you killed their future. Such was the beauty of mathematics. Golog's strategy was to attack Dwarves in their homes - in the deep mountains that they thought they had made safe for their wives and children. That is how a battle line was truly broken - break it a hundred years before it could form.

But Golog soon realized he had not taken his study of Dwarves seriously enough. He had almost overlooked the deeper value of Dwarrowdams. Even most Dwarves did not know that Dwarf women with _the Gift_ were powerful prophetesses. This was the great secret he learned by studying them closer than anyone had before, by entering their homes, and seeing what they tried to protect above their own lives. No necromancer knew, no Elf knew, but Golog knew.

The White Council was made up of blind fools that should have discovered this centuries ago, and begged the Seven Tribes of Dwarves to join them by sending Seers.

' _Snobbery_.' Golog thought. Not that he had much more appreciation for Dwarrowdams. He found even the most beautiful of them to be ugly. Golog had been a high-born Elf and his standards of beauty had not waivered over the centuries.

He also found Dwarrowdams to be unimaginative. That worked to his advantage. When he did break one of the Gifted, he could always be sure that what she told him was the truth. They were utterly hopeless at lying. They lacked imagination and the skills to craft an elaborate manipulation, Golog contemptuously surmised.

Golog had extracted, under torture, a consistent prophecy of his future as King of Orcs, crowned by Sauron, the Dark Divinity of Middle-Earth. These were among the many prophecies that he, the student, was able to give to Sauron.

The time was coming. Not immediately, but soon. Golog had been warned to be patient.

The time was also coming for Golog to find his Queen. He had been told she would equal or even surpass him in intellect and cunning, and her heritage would legitimize his claim to many Kingdoms.

He had also been given a very troubling personal prophesy. He had been told that he would pay for his many mistreatments of women in the form of a son who would steal the heart of his Queen. Golog had not wanted to believe it, but it had been consistently told by vengefully gleeful Dwarf seers for decades. He finally acted on it. He hunted down and slaughtered every male child he had fathered upon Orc, Elf, or Woman. He had put sword to more than one very promising Orc lieutenant. It was a sacrifice in some cases, but necessary.

After it was done, the prophetesses still told the same tale. He realized the term 'son' was not literal. Golog thought of the many Elves and Men he had turned to Orc, perfecting Sauron's methods. Golog taught his improved corruptions to Sauron, and to other Orcs of worth. He then hunted down and killed all the Uruk-Hai he had personally made, and never turned another. This took decades, and still the prophetesses spit out the same story.

Golog railed and cursed and racked his brain for any overlooked encounter. Finally, it occurred to him. Many years ago, before the prophecy, he had taken up the challenge of turning Dwarf to Orc. Sauron himself had tried and failed. Golog wanted to solve this great mystery for himself and for the greater glory of Sauron. He encountered one failure after another. Dwarves could neither be bred with Orcs nor turned to Orcs. Golog's last untested idea was that one might be turned before it was born.

His Ironfist spies helped him. They lured out one pregnant Dwarrowdam for Golog to capture and play with. He used all of his skills on her to corrupt her and her unborn child. He threw her in a cell, and waited. The wait proved to be short. The new Dwarf prophetesses he had captured screamed at him that the Dwarrowdam would die if he did not let her go. He did not care if she died. The prophetesses told him he would never know if his experiment worked if he did not let her go, for she would not last long enough to birth her child. He took the female from her cell. He cut her hair, branded her face, and conducted all of the usual degradations that the Dwarves had come to expect. He needed her to believe she was merely an ordinary victim of his well-known campaign of terror and intimidation. Then, he let her go.

Half a year later, his spies reported back to him. The dwarrowdam had birthed a healthy boy with no resemblance to Orc. Golog was disappointed, and frankly bored. Sauron had sent word that his Easterling allies would benefit from Golog's skills. They had several necromancers Golog might wish to study with. Golog gathered his troops, Ironfist mercenaries and captive seers, and left the Blue Mountains.

Now, Golog realized he had never bothered to track down and kill that one 'son'. He had nearly forgotten about it. Those refugee Longbeards were scattered, coming and going throughout Middle-Earth seeking work and safety. He had to locate his oldest surviving Dwarf spies to even begin to know where to look.

An Ironfist spy among the Longbeards, decrepit with age, told him that if he found Thorin Oakenshield, he would find the boy, for it had to be one of Thorin's two nephews. It was Golog's spy who told him that Thorin had set out to Lonely Mountain. A seer confirmed it, and warned him that Thorin would awaken the dragon, Smaug. Golog had, in turn, informed Sauron's vassal, Azog. But Azog had failed to kill Thorin and his kinsmen before they took shelter in the impenetrable fortress of Erebor.

Now Golog found himself preparing to fight beside Bolg, Azog's idiot savant Orc-spawn. Wasting time, preparing for a pointless battle against Man and Elf, just for a chance to get close enough to kill his last possible 'son'.

Sauron himself had asked that he not bother, but instead depart for Mordor, to prepare for the ultimate war still many years away. Golog humbly asked permission to stay and fight at Erebor, for personal reasons. Sauron granted it, for Golog had proven his value and loyalty over centuries.

' _Another lesson in patience and humility._ ' Golog told himself as he sharpened his crescent arrows.


	78. Final Conversations Part 2

Kili approached Dwalin. If Dwalin was expecting Kili to reach out to heal the rift between them, he would be sorely disappointed.

"I have a question." Kili started.

"What?"

Kili showed him the crescent arrowhead that Rhavaniel had given him. "Have you ever seen arrowheads like this? Have you seen an Orc use them in battle, or a Dwarf make them, no matter how rare, or how long ago?"

Dwalin looked at it, turning it over. "Where did you get this?"

"That was not an answer."

Dwalin handed it back, "I have never seen it before."

"I will walk away and not trouble you anymore with this. But I want one thing clear between us - I know you are lying to me."

Dwalin stopped him, "Here, here, I am not lying! I have never seen this tip."

Kili snapped, "But you have seen a scar, on some of our peoples faces, including my mother's. This is a match. "

"Aye, I saw that scar. But any number of pieces of metal could have made that mark. I have never seen this _arrowhead_ before. No one has had a scar like that in nearly eighty years. Ask Balin, or Gloin, or even Thorin. We had a bad run with Orcs in Blue Mountain. Nearly four years of terror. Didn't even seem like Orcs, seemed more like the Ilúvatar himself had turned his back on us. That was when you and Ori and Fili were tiny or just born. You think you want to set something right? There's no fixing what went wrong all those year ago, because the monsters behind it are all gone."

Kili shook his head, "You did not kill that thing, though. You never even got close. Because if you had, you would have seen his arrows. That is what I think. I agree now that you are not lying - but you are wrong. You did not run him out. He got bored and left. That is why he still haunts the dreams of every life he touched."

Kili walked away.

Dwalin called after him, "Would not be the first time I was wrong!"

Kili stopped, and Dwalin kept talking, "I will tell you one other truthful thing. I am the one who told them you were dead. I was wrong. I left you behind. I lost your trust on that Ridge, something I built up slow over your lifetime, and I will never get it back. That Elf girl just picked it up like lost treasure."

Kili paused, "Rhavi once said trust was like currency."

"I am not sorry she is gone. She does not belong among us. Not here, not now." Dwalin said, "But I am sorry it has hurt you this badly, and sorry for my part in that."

Kili turned back to Dwalin, "She would not have liked it in here, you know? All that gold but no sunlight? Nothing growing? Riches did not matter to her. She knew what real treasure was. You say you lost your treasure on a Ridge? At least you made an honest mistake. I put my treasure on a horse and sent it away. When this is all over, if I survive, I am getting her back."

Dwalin put a hand on Kili's shoulder, "If we get out of this alive, I will go with you."

(******)

Fili met privately with Kili and Bilbo at the appointed time.

Kili rushed to speak, "Fili, you told me that you needed to start questioning Uncle Thorin. Now, more than ever, he needs you to tell him he is wrong. He will not accept this from me. He would not have listened to me even before we fought about Rhavaniel. He thought me too young, and now he thinks me corrupted by the influence of Man and Elf. But you know this is wrong. Bilbo knows it, Balin knows it, and some of the others as well. The people of Lake-Town are _owed_. At least help _them_ and break the alliance between Elf and Man."

Fili sighed, "I know. I am just back from talking to him. Uncle Thorin has gold sickness, just as our mother described it. He will not see reason. He will not let us try to settle this peacefully."

"I thought this might happen." Kili nodded sadly. "The sickness is a wild animal, running in Uncle Thorin's head. But this time the animal is so strong, it caught and rode Thorin."

Bilbo cleared his throat. "I am going outside. I will see if I can convince Bard or King Thranduil to leave, or at least send away the troops, so that Thorin does not see them as threat."

Fili and Kili nodded at each other.

"That is a good idea." Fili said, "We will help you slip out."

Bilbo shook his head, "I was thinking you two should come with me."

"No." Fili insisted. "I believe Bard is honorable, but I do not trust Thranduil. He might take us hostage and demand ransom for us. It would only make matters worse."

"Fili is right." Kili agreed, "I think Thranduil is as sick as Uncle Thorin, and has been sick for longer than any of us have been alive. There is no trying to reason with him if he thinks he can use us to get more jewels. I will not go to the Elves. But it is more than that. If Thorin was just my King, I would leave this place and never concern myself with the loss of my share of treasure. But Thorin is my family. He took care of me, and I will not leave him while he is sick. He needs me now more than ever."


	79. Practice Makes Perfect

"How do you like this?" Rhavaniel held up the first banner for Warg to see, and he thumped his tail in approval.

Rhavaniel thought of all the things she found in the past few weeks, to bring her to this place at this time.

Radagast the Brown had found _her_ of course, but after that, fate had put Rhavaniel's feet to the path of everything she would need to survive.

She had returned to the outskirts of Thranduil's Realm, and scaled a wall to retrieve her pack and weapons. Even Tauriel, with her sharp eyes, had not noticed them stashed high in a tree. Rhavaniel put them there, wrapped up with her old rain cloak, before she dropped to the ground to take off the broken chain around her ankle, during that terrible night of the forge fire. She even had a few new items taken from the forge before it burned - an Elf Guard sword and knife. The blades had been left at the west forge for mending. Rhavaniel had been lucky - these would let her know when Orcs were around, and she needed a good sword.

After securing her pack, Rhavaniel was not done fetching supplies. She managed to sneak into the back of a bakery, and get a months' supply of lembas bread, pine nut oil for cooking and weapons care, and plenty of honey and dried berries.

She circled closer to the Citadel Guard Station, and discovered them preparing for King Thranduil's excursion to Lonely Mountain. She grabbed the largest pack she could lift, and carried it into the woods for inspection.

The pack had a small tent, beautifully crafted lanterns, oil, flints, a large medicinal kit with a generous supply of miruvor and a banner of King Thranduil himself. She was not sure what to do with the last item, but at least the fabric might come in handy. This was a good haul. A rich haul, actually. She turned to reexamine the tent when she discovered it missing. Odd, but that large flat rock was not there before. With a gasp, Rhavaniel realized what she had found - well, _stolen_ , to be honest. This tent was magically woven Lorien material. It would look like stone to anyone passing by. This pack must have been intended for a very close aide of the King's, but now it would be protecting her.

She knew she would find her Warg again, too. She realized that fate had trained her over a lifetime to search, and was finally revealing what she needed to find. She encountered Warg a day's walk north of her former home. She had spotted him while up in a tree, as he struggled to chase down a healthy elk. They passed below her and a well-timed arrow ended the chase in Warg's favor.

She dropped to the forest floor and pulled back her hood, allowing him to recognize her. Without words, they made a pact to stick together on that day. They needed each other.

Rhavaniel and Warg had headed north, toward Lonely Mountain, hiding frequently, traveling mostly at night. Rhavaniel scrounged and hunted every day, and Warg grew stronger on plenty of fresh meat and liniments rubbed on his sore leg.

She raided a fire Watchtower. It had been restocked after Smaug's attack but not manned - all troops were marching on Erebor, ready to walk over the charred bodies of the Dwarves and take the gold and jewels for the glory of Thranduil. Rhavaniel knew that much from listening to fireside talks, as she stalked the outskirts of different camps - Orc, Lake-Town refugee, and Elf scouts. So many tribes were on the road, yet she managed to stay out of sight. She was practicing getting closer to groups, blending in for a moment and slipping out of sight. She had killed a few lone Orcs already that had wandered too close for comfort, and took their gear as disguise. When she darkened the skin on her face and hands with a mixture of clay and ash, she could pass for a hooded snaga at a distance.

The tent had helped them hide in plain sight, too. It had been meant to cover one important Elf and his belongings comfortably. But if Warg curled himself up tight like a pup and Rhavaniel curled up on top of him, they had enough material to cover themselves.

(***************)

"How do you like this?" Rhavaniel held up the first banner for Warg to see, and he thumped his tail in approval.

Rhavaniel smiled. The banner was Dwarf. It was dark blue and silver, and she had lovingly stitched Kili's personal mark boldly in the center. She knew it from his bow.

She held up the second banner. It was King Thranduil's, from the troop items that she had stolen.

"If we are going to lie," she told Warg, "we will lie big. No more of the small stuff for me."

Rhavaniel planned to use these banners as needed, in the battle that was surely coming. She wanted to protect Warg, so that he not be confused with an Orc mount.

She stashed her supplies high in a tree, and tucked Warg under the tent for a well deserved rest.

Rhavaniel had one more test for herself. She took a dozen cleaned fish that she had caught that day, and donned her full Orc disguise. It was only a short walk to the nearest Orc camp. The groups were getting larger - she had even seen divisions in full formation. The group she approached were the lowest snaga that followed the troops, bearing supplies. She walked into the bustling camp and threw the fish in with the pile of food the snaga had been scrounging. No one looked twice at her. A lifetime of being invisible was paying off.


	80. The Battle: Part 1

Rhavaniel had done all the preparation that she could the night before. She had eavesdropped on the Orc conversations. Enough of them favored Common Speech that she understood their news - the Men of Lake-Town, Elves of Thranduil, and Longbeard Dwarves from the Iron Hills were going to stand together against the Orcs. She knew that at least some of Thorin Oakenshield's Company were still alive, and she prayed that Kili was among them. 

She had no idea how many troops Thranduil, Bard, and Dain had, but she knew Orcs and Goblins were gaining reinforcements hourly. She had even seen three divisions of Orcs that looked like they could be the dreaded Birdclaw tribe. 

She had no notion of Azog's strategy, only that he led the dark forces that would take the field. She knew she would never be able to penetrate to the highest levels of Orc leadership unnoticed. She had been fortunate to blend in for the last four hours, undetected by other low ranking Orc cavalry, mounted on Wargs. 

Her Warg's burns were healed, but his fur had not grow back and probably never would. Rhavaniel had plastered the bare patches on him with a sticky mix of sap, water, mashed berries and a few dead maggots. It looked raw and painful and possibly infected. It kept the other Orcs from challenging her the way they challenged each other over the strongest mounts. Her Warg was not considered an upgrade. She only had to be on the lookout for a cavalry Orc with no Warg at all. She moved further into the center of the pack to prevent that.

Her own disguise was holding up well. She sat on her Warg with enough confidence that she was not challenged by the smaller Orcs, and enough deference that none of the larger Orcs felt the need to randomly strike her. She had layers of Orc fabric over Warg, hiding her weapons that were obviously Elvish. They all assumed it covered more wounds on the beast, so no one took a closer look. 

Rhavaniel had been sorely tempted to toss away her Orc gear, slip through no man's land, and join Bard's group. She knew she could not approach the Elves. Too many of the Guard knew her and the accusations leveled against her. They might shoot her on site as a traitor. She imagined any introduction to Dain's Dwarves would go over as well as her first meeting with Dwalin. Bard's tribe was the only choice, but they would see that she was young and small, and send her to the back of the formations to run supplies and tend the wounded. 

If she wanted to help, then she was in the one place where she had a chance of making a significant difference. She was not ignorant when it came to the art of war, at least in theory. She had taken several years of military history in school, always with Hérion in her class. Hérion studied it because he wanted to be a Guard, like his father. Rhavaniel wanted to make weapons, and the history and utilization of weapons in war was important. She knew how cavalry would be used, and she was in a position to disrupt this one. 

She studied how the Orcs assembled. Their leadership was in the front of the line, but they also had a second strong line of fierce fighters at the rear, ready to whip on any Orcs that faltered. The lines seemed to be a mix of alternating weak and strong fighters. Still, the strongest leaders were obvious by the way they carried themselves. Rhavaniel picked her targets in front and behind her carefully, so that she would know where to strike first. 

The tension among the cavalry was palpable. Rhavaniel dared to take a drink from her water skin and the Orc on her right snatched it from her hand. He was much bigger than her, so she merely snarled at him. Had he been smaller, she would have had no choice but to strike him or he would have become suspicious. 

The battle had been raging for at least two hours before the cavalry began to move. The leaders had them slowly move over the last foothill on the northwest, to assume a position to strike. Rhavaniel carefully kept moving forward one row at a time, to be closer to the front row and the officers. The Orcs seemed to calm down significantly now that their time to join the battle was at hand. It was the uncertainty that had unnerved them the most. Now, they had swung from fear to bloodthirsty anticipation. 

Rhavaniel had guessed correctly on where the cavalry would attack. She would be able to take advantage of the fallback position she had carefully prepared the night before. 

When the battlefield was finally visible to her, she was shocked. The screaming of sentient and dumb creatures, and the stench of evisceration overwhelmed her. She leaned over Warg and vomited. A few young and inexperienced Orcs did the same, so she again went unnoticed. 

She shook her head, trying to clear the fog. Warg looked back at her and she patted him to let him know she was still with him, still ready. 

The horns at the front of the line blared, and the Wargs began to charge. At first, they were so tight together they jostled and bumped into each other and Rhavaniel thought she might fall off and be trampled before the fight even began. But the lines spread out in a simple pattern of uniform space between riders. She would have been able to maintain her place in the formation, if that had been her intention. It was not her intention. 

Rhavaniel urged Warg forward to just behind the front line of the charge. She pulled out her spiked balls and chains, that she had made for herself based on the Dwarf weapon. She let one ball drop near the ground, and began to spin it. Her first target was within reach - the cavalry leader. She let loose the long ball and chain, striking him squarely in the back of the head. The other ball flew out on its chain, catching the next rider and wrapping around his neck. The two officers came off their mounts and plowed into the ground, the rows behind them skidding to a stop and tripping over themselves. 

Rhavaniel had her Orc lance ready as she darted left, while the right side of the cavalry line began to collapse in confusion. She took the second in command out with a lance through his back. Warg cut sharply through the line, slowing the other Wargs down.

Rhavaniel knocked the cadence caller off his mount and Warg bit the Orc in the head as he lay on the ground. This would help prevent them getting out a new rally cry. She kept cutting left, slowing the line and forcing more Wargs and Orcs to slow or slam into each other. When she reached the outskirts of the formation, she pulled out her bow and arrows. 

She was so small and nondescript, and had moved to the side so fast, no one had identified her as the traitor in their midst. She saw the rear guard leaders moving forward to see what happened and take command of the charge. She judged that there were just two she needed to take down to prevent this cavalry unit from regrouping. Two quick, easy shots and it was done. The Orcs were still plentiful, bloodthirsty, and armed but they were disorganized and leaderless. They would never complete the flanking maneuver they were ordered to make.


	81. The Battle: Part 2

Kili was right - Orcs fight very poorly without leadership. The cavalry line was broken, confused, and leaderless. The Orcs had lost focus on their mission. They had, unfortunately, turned their attention to her. The Orcs in front noticed her now, standing apart from the others with that Elf bow. Rhavaniel spun Warg around and raced across the open field. She turned in the saddle and began to shoot at Orcs behind her in rapid succession. A dozen Orcs broke free of the confused group and pursued her, enraged at having been infiltrated and duped. She and Warg ran to their fallback, behind a series of boulders. 

Rhavaniel and Warg hunkered down, and she pulled off all the Orc fabric on Warg, revealing his Dwarf and Elf banners. 

"Sit!" she told him. Rhavaniel tossed off her Orc cloak and hood to move more freely. She emptied her quiver of arrows at the approaching line of Orcs, and then pulled more arrows out from behind the rocks. 

More mounted Orcs approached her - more even than she could shoot. She paused and crouched down behind a boulder, waiting for them to get closer. Just as the line was about to leap over her low stone defenses, she pulled back her camouflage tent. Too late, the Orcs and Wargs were impaled on the spikes she had buried in the ground last night. She finished the survivors off quickly with her sword. The display discouraged the second line of attackers, and she was able to once more her bow to pick them off. 

The field in front of her began to fill with fighting Men and Orcs. 

It appeared to be mostly Man on her side of the battle. Rhavaniel was relieved. She was still afraid of her kinsmen, and she had heard that Dwarves could become so enraged in battle that they lost all sense of reason. A Dwarf in such a state might not recognize Warg's banner and leave him be. Rhavaniel tried to wipe some of the gray paint from her face. She no longer wanted to be mistaken for a little snaga Orc. 

She kept using her arrows with perfect aim. She thought that the tide was turning in favor of Bard. She was wrong. A wave of goblins came over the foothills. They swarmed like ants along the side of the foothills that defended her. She shot her arrows without pause, on pure instinct. Even then, she would have been overcome if Warg had not reared up and began snapping away at the closest ones. The goblins left her alone and swarmed the field. It was heartbreaking to see men die so close, with nothing she could do. Men would fall under a mass of goblins. She could kill them - one, two, three, and four and as the Goblin bodies fell away she could see that the man beneath was already dead. 

Rhavaniel glanced at her supplies. Over two hundred arrows gone. She pulled two hundred more from hiding and continued to fire, trying to pick which men she could still save. If a man had more than three goblins on him already, may Ilúvatar forgive her, she passed him by and aimed to help a man with better odds.


	82. The Battle: Part 3

Rhavaniel was rapidly depleting her third and final bundle of arrows. She would not be able to keep up this pace much longer. She still had the tent, and she and Warg could slip deeper between boulders and cover themselves until the end.   
She looked up at the Lonely Mountain. 

That is when she saw them - The Dwarves of Thorin Oakenshield had been fighting their way down the mountainside. Was Kili with them? She began to count, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven.....Warg growled and snapped and she turned back to the goblins that were sneaking up on her. She had to kill a dozen before she could turn around once more. The Dwarves were lower on the mountain. She counted again. Thirteen. Kili must be alive. 

She put the last arrows in her quiver, and threw the tent over Warg. 

"Stay." she told him. 

She broke from behind the cover of their position. She cleared a path for herself with her last dozen arrows. Once she had entered the battlefield, she thought she had entered what her elders described as the eye of a storm. Bodies closed in around her but it was as if no one could see her or if they did, she did not register as a threat. But like the eye of the storm, she could see nothing past a few feet in front of her. She was on level ground, and could not see Kili or any of the other Dwarves. 

She pulled an arrow from an Orc body. It was one of hers, and came out easily, intact. She shot another Goblin and leaped over his body. She was knocked to the ground by accident, as Man and Orc struggled in hand-to-hand combat. 

She leaped up again, looking for more arrows. She found three of her own that she had put in a particularly large Orc. She wiped off a bit of gore so that they would fly straight, and shot them carefully at three goblins. She darted forward in the break that their deaths created. 

She kept moving forward in fits and spurts, looking for arrows and openings. She hoped she was moving in the right direction. She ducked a sword blow from a Man. He was blinded by blood in his eyes, flailing at anything. 

She found a pile of Orc bodies so full of arrows, they looked like a grotesque pincushion. She pulled arrows out, some were Elf-made, and she could still use them. Thranduil's forces may be moving forward on this position. She would have to be careful. 

She crawled to the top of the heap, pulling more arrows out of bodies. The arrows of Man, with their barbs, were useless - they did not pull out. She used her recovered Elf arrow on a goblin trying to sneak up behind her. She was out again, and too far away from her fallback position to find any more of her own. Then she saw it on the other side of the Orc pile - three Elf arrows bound together, with bright orange fletch. Only Kili had arrows like that. He had to be close. 

She made one more leap forward and the battle seemed to fall away behind her. She had entered a portion of field where no one was fighting because all had fallen or retreated to more strategic positions. The last few standing were the Dwarves of Thorin Oakenshield, and a contingent of huge, hideous Orcs. She heard a great roar behind her, and a massive animal raced past her, knocking her down. It was...a bear?

She was flat on her back looking up when she saw them - the giant Eagles Kili had told her about. The birds had saved the Dwarves once before, and now they had joined the battle. They were beautiful. They would lift the Dwarves away from the Orcs, as they had done before, in Misty Mountains, wouldn't they?

Rhavaniel rolled over and stood up on the uneven ground. She looked for Kili, and finally saw him. There was no mistaking him - his helmet had been knocked off. He was with Fili, fighting back-to-back against the Orcs that surrounded them. She ran toward them. 

Then she saw him - a tall Uruk-Hai wearing a helmet shaped like a bird mask, with a fierce beak. Unlike the ugly armor of typical Orc, his armor was beautiful. The back was made of beaten gold feathers, shaped like a bird's wings. He swung a hook on a chain, like she had seen back on Burnt Ridge, only larger. It wrapped around Kili's sword arm. The Orc pulled Kili with such force, he was lifted from the ground and torn away from Fili as easily as a toy taken from a child. 

Rhavaniel heard Fili scream for his brother, but that scream was cut short. A large, pale skinned Orc pierced Fili through the back with a spear. 

The hideous bird-Orc lifted Kili by the throat and looked at him, as if inspecting him, staring into those warm, dark eyes. Kili tried to kick loose, but the Orc forced him down to the ground on his knees. 

Rhavaniel was still too far away. She screamed and threw her knife at the Orc. It bounced off his exquisite armor, and he paused long enough to turn and look at her. Kili turned, too. He saw her. She wasn't invisible to him. He knew she had come looking for him. She was the last thing Kili saw when the Orc plunged his sword into Kili's neck and down into his chest. 

Rhavaniel screamed in grief. Men and beasts were screaming and dying all over this field, but the screams of a girl were different, somehow. She was no longer invisible, as if a spell had been broken. Eyes turned on her, as she collapsed on the field. She thought she saw the Orc that killed Kili approach her. It didn't matter, she had no fight left in her. 

She felt a shadow fall on her, and heard a roar. It was Warg. He heard her voice and ran from his safe place to find her. He would not let the Orc come near her, not without a fight. 

Rhavaniel heard more roaring. The bear had come back, and the Orcs retreated from him. This much she was aware of. Then she heard running. The Orcs were in full retreat. She laid on the bloody ground and sobbed, and Warg curled up over her.


	83. Epilogue

Rhavaniel recalled her last conversation with Balin and Dwalin. It was so hard to imagine that those two were brothers. She had finished helping the Dwarves by clearing the dead Orcs from the battlefield for burning. It was a dirty job, but it spared the Dwarves to reverently attend to their own fallen. She had only touched Kili's body for a moment before they came to claim him. What happened next was not for her to share, even if she had been Dwarf. Only the men prepared their fallen brothers for burial.

She asked if she could stay at Lonely Mountain for a while. She wanted to be in Erebor when Kili's mother and the other Dwarves returned home from exile in Blue Mountain, that she might pay her respects to Dis.

Dwalin said 'no' and walked away. Balin had at least been apologetic. He thanked her, and told her that they had seen her from the Mountain as she disrupted the cavalry attack. Balin told her that Kili _knew_ it was her. No single Elf was braver or had done more damage to the enemy than she. But, the sentiment against Elf was still strong among his people. A single female, unaccompanied by family, was shocking for Dwarves. She could best show respect to Dis by respecting Dwarf rules of propriety. Her friendship with Kili, though innocent, would be embarrassing. She'd heard enough.

She had promptly packed up Warg, and headed south. She was not rushing to catch up with the army of Thranduil, as Balin assumed. She was looking for Bard the Bowman.

She caught up with the men of Lake-Town, of the old Kingdom of Dale, on the road. The horses neighed and skittered, and the men gave her and Warg a wide berth as she moved to the front of the procession.

Kili had described Bard to her, so she knew who to introduce herself to.

"Bard the Bowman, I presume?" she asked.

"Yes." Bard glanced behind her, as if assuming more Elves would be with her. He looked at her quizzically. "You came from the battle. I saw you break the Orc flanking maneuver single-handed."

"Not single-handed when you have a Warg with you." she said, petting her mount. "My name is....Raven. At your service."

"I am pleased to meet you, Raven, and to thank you." Bard replied.

"I cannot help but notice that you have taken heavy casualties in the battle. You have my condolences. " Rhavaniel said. "It must weigh on a leader, to be so short of fighting men when he needs to rebuild his city _and_ keep the roads safe from scattered, foraging Orcs and Goblins."

"I was thinking about that." Bard admitted.

"I was thinking that a good archer, one that could rival even yourself, might come in handy at such a time. And having a tame Warg, that can go places no man on horse could....imagine how many Orcs a pair like that could bring in, if a decent bounty were offered?"

Bard looked skeptical, "An Elf bounty hunter? I have never heard of one, and here you are still a child."

"Did I look like a child on the battlefield?" Rhavaniel challenged.

"No, but now that I see you face to face, I am surprised."

Rhavaniel chuckled, "Oh, I know, I have heard it all. ' _You are too dark_ ', ' _You are too short_ ', ' _A Dwarf must have climbed your family tree_.' I assure you, I am five-hundred and forty-eight and made for hunting. Life in Elf villages bores me to tears."

Bard smiled at this odd, charming Elf, "I believe we can do business."

Rhavaniel smiled back. She knew her pregnancy would last a full year and she had a good six months before she even began to show. She could earn plenty of gold in that amount of time.


End file.
